Quantum of What?
Posted on | November 18, 2008 | No Comments
The new movie Quantum of Solace is not only the second movie with Daniel Craig in the James Bond role, it’s the first film in franchise history to be a direct sequel.
Sadly, that doesn’t necessarily mean double the fun. Mostly because of the script — surprising, considering it’s the same three writers who wrote the last Bond flick (the Neal Purvis-Robert Wade tandem and Paul Haggis).
Craig’s debut as 007 in 2006′s Casino Royale was bloody good fun. It wasn’t perfect and felt clunky in some parts, but overall, it was a great reboot of the franchise. Craig as Bond was flawed, not terribly efficient, and a bit of an emotional whirlwind. A nice change-up from the suave if cold-hearted sex robot that Bond had become over the decades. Perhaps the biggest plus of Casino Royale was that there was an tragic love story hidden underneath the conquer-the-world plotline that helped to explain why Bond transformed into the agent we’ve come to know and love.
But Quantum of Solace lacked those subtleties.
It’s replaces the subtle romance and origin story with a revenge subplot intertwined with the main tale about Bond trying to stop an “environmentalist” from taking over Bolivia’s water supply. Gasp! What grand dastardly plans! Seriously. This is a Bond movie and that’s the best that they could come up with? C’mon!
Aside from its rather bland premise, the screenplay is relatively predictable. There aren’t too many surprises, and most of the excitement by way of the gun blasting, foot chasing and fist pounding — all of which come at a very generous clip.
On a related note, Marc Forster’s direction is a bit pedestrian, especially when the fighting kicks up. Known for independent dramas, it’s clear he’s out of his element with Quantum of Solace. He imitates the (unfortunate) trend of using shaky close-ups, rapid-fire editing to create a sense of visual confusion. You can’t see who’s punching, where the bullets are flying, or where the cars are speeding off to.
Still, Quantum of Solace is an entertaining movie … but not any more than any other mindless big blockbuster action flick.
Tags: Daniel Craig > James Bond > Marc Forster > Movies > Screenwriting
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