Saturday, November 29, 2008

Quantum of Solace


Since Dave and I are addicted to Star Wars, Star Trek and James Bond, you won't be surprised to learn that, two weeks ago, we fought the opening night crowds and took our places - in very bad seats in the second row, stage right - to watch the latest Bond flick. Even though the theater was packed, we managed to avoid violence, bloodshed and death - unlike shopping addicts who got carried away with Black Friday sales yesterday.

Quantum of Solace picks up where Casino Royale left off: with Bond seeking to avenge the death of his beloved Vesper. The movie is full of amazing stunts (some of which proved to be dangerous), great cinematography and cool technological wizardry. All of those great features are offset, though, by it's less than engaging dialog. I guess that's no surprise: Bond is, after all, a man of action, not words. (I might as well mention here, in order to be thorough, that the opening song is terrible, one of the worst Bond songs ever. Fortunately, David Arnold's musical score matches his usual high quality.)

Daniel Craig is a great Bond. In addition to being the best-built Bond of all (although Sean Connery had great legs), he portrays Bond as a dangerous yet sensitive character, a balance that's difficult to achieve (Connery may have come closest to Craig in finding it). When I wasn't being swept away by the intensity of the action and the resultant adrenalin rushes, I enjoyed watching the development of the relationship between Bond and M. Judi Dench is a superb actress, the perfect choice to play a female M; she and Daniel Craig have the chemistry that she and Pierce Brosnan lacked. That relationship development, which built throughout the movie, kept me fully engaged and ensured that the movie was not just another mindless action flick.

Overall, even though Casino Royale was a superior story (and movie), Quantum of Solace is entertaining and Bond fans will surely enjoy it.

5 comments:

Barbara said...

I'm not a Bond fan so I was happy to stay home while the rest of the crew went off to see it. They were quite happy, although they all said (except Cameron who isn't quite at the spot where he can critique) they liked Casino Royale better.

Jenn said...

kevin and i still need to get out to see it. i also saw the trailer yesterday for the new star trek movie. looks awesome!!!!

Christian said...

I want to get to see the new Bond movie. I am hoping to sneak away for a matinee to myself and catch it in between kettles someday soon.

Evie said...

Barb: I wasn't a Bond fan until I married your brother.

Jenn: It's a fun movie. I'm sure we'll go see the Star Trek movie int the theater too.

Christian: The movie is just under 2 hours, so you'll probably be able to squeeze it in between some kettle runs.

Stephen said...

I've never got into the Bond franchise. I'll see it someday when it's released on DVD