Quantum of Solace (Blu-ray)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

"Quantum of Solace" finds British actor Daniel Craig returning to the role of James Bond in a direct sequel to the first film starring Craig as Bond, "Casino Royale." This was a film I had high anticipation for due to my love of Craig as James Bond and thought that "Casino Royale" was one of the finest Bond films since the very early Sean Connery pictures or the oft forgotten "On Her Majesty´s Secret Service." I´m not going to go as far as saying that the blonde-haired blue-eyed Craig is the best Bond yet, but he certainly gives Connery a run for his money and the serious and gritty performance that Craig brings to the role had "Quantum of Solace" as one of the must-see films for this past year. My hope is that Craig is going to stick around for a while and this oddly titled second film is not the last time we see Craig as Bond.

The film begins its timeline immediately after that of "Casino Royale." Bond has captured Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) and brought him after a high speed chase to meet with M (Judi Dench). They question White about the super-secret organization hinted at during the first film, but White just laughs and tells M and Bond that the organization has people everywhere. This is quickly realized when M´s personal bodyguard of eight years reveals himself as an operative for White´s organization. Bond quickly moves to track down the bodyguard and those that were involved with the traitor. This leads Bond into meeting Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko) and her rich environmentalist boyfriend Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). Greene tries repeatedly to kill Camille, but Bond rescues the beauty.

Soon Bond begins globetrotting trying to uncover those involved in the mysterious organization that tried to assassinate M and reveal Greene´s role with the organization. It appears that Greene and General Medrano (Joaquin Cosio) are working to place Medrano back into power in Bolivia in exchange for a large desert region to become owned by Greene. It is soon revealed that the CIA is also working with Medrano and Greene to place the General back into power and Bond´s American ally Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) is involved with the plot, but being duped by Greene. Bond also enlists the help of his former friend Rene Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) to help him after M and the MI6 believe Bond to be rogue and his passports and credit cards are suspended as Bond must work outside of the system to bring information about the mysterious organization Quantum to light.

The critics were not overly kind to "Quantum of Solace" when compared to the favorably reviewed "Casino Royale." The overall view was that Craig continues to impress with his performance as Bond, but that the movie itself wasn´t quite as entertaining as its predecessor. I´m not hesitant to agree with the majority when it comes to this film. Craig is again impressive as a Bond who relies on his wit, training and intelligence to stop evil masterminds and doesn´t use the gadgetry or hokey stunts of previous Bonds such as those portrayed by Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore or Timothy Dalton. Craig is a real-world Bond and the reboot of the series has become a very serious affair that is no longer the parody it had become.

Unfortunately, "Quantum of Solace" tries to be far louder and bigger than the first film and the high end stunts and MTV style editing of the more spectacular scenes lessens the impact of Craig´s performance and while there aren´t any crazy inventions at Bond´s disposal, the series now risks becoming an over-the-top spectacle as it was before Craig took over the reins. For the most part, the action sequences were grounded in reality, but the explosive finale that takes place in an unusually fueled hotel in the middle of the desert had me rolling my eyes and remembering back to the ice palace that Brosnan destroyed in "Die Another Day." "Quantum of Solace" certainly cannot hold up storywise to Craig´s first outing as Bond and while the twenty second Bond film is still an above average entry in the series, it cannot rival "Casino Royale."

My complaints with "Quantum of Solace" were the over-the-top action sequences and MTV-style cutting that made them seem to slick and quick. The film was noisy and cut too fast in many of the action sequences, including the awe-inspiring fight on construction scaffolding. The film´s boat chase and the final action sequence in the exploding hotel were the two scenes that I did not particularly care for and those two moments alone was enough to keep "Quantum of Solace" from succeeding on the same level as "Casino Royale." These moments were still not as silly as many of the stunts performed by Brosnan or Moore, but I´ve enjoyed the Craig reboot because of how the series has been grounded in reality and hydrogen-fueled hotels that explode all around the stars doesn´t fit properly into this re-imagining of the James Bond series.

I enjoyed "Quantum of Solace" and still support Craig as being one of the finest two actors to portray James Bond. With the organization of Quantum now being named, I expect the storyline that began with "Casino Royale" to continue and Craig is apparently contracted for a total of four films. This two film reboot has worked exceptionally well and while "Quantum of Solace" took a step back in overall quality, it is still the second best James Bond film since "On Her Majesty´s Secret Service" in 1969. The real reason to watch these two films is to see the talented Craig portray Bond as a gritty man with compassion and more humanity that ever seen in the character. This is still one of the better action films of 2008 and while it is flawed, it is still well worth watching.