Quantum of Solace UK Review
Bond is back in this action-packed but emotionally unsatisfying sequel.
3.5 out of 5 Stars | 7/10
Occasionally brilliant, brutal and thrilling, yet ultimately a crushing disappointment; enter the Quantum of Solace.
The first out-and-out sequel to a Bond movie, QOS sees Daniel Craig's much-lauded incarnation of the British secret agent return even more angry and ruthless than he was in franchise reboot Casino Royale.
Picking up literally minutes from the finale of that film, we open with Bond still in Italy, speeding away from police and enemy agents in his Aston Martin, with the sinister Mr White tied up in the boot. Bond discovers that White is part of the far-reaching organisation Quantum ("we have men everywhere!" he grins), that blackmailed his now-dead girlfriend Vesper in the previous film. Naturally, Bond decides to go after the group's shadowy main man; creepy Dominic Greene (Mathieu Almaric).
On the surface, the reptilian Greene is a kind of eco-philanthropist, but secretly his organisation is involved in an evil plan to control Bolivia's water supply, as well as more run-of-the-mill criminal activities such as destabilising governments and arming terrorists. Bond resolves to stop his nefarious scheme, and exact his own personal vengeance.
So - why a "crushing dissapoinment"? Allow us to explain. OO7's narrative arc in the movie - his raison d'etre - is revenge. He's going after the guys that casued the girl he loved to die. And yet during the course of the film, you never get the sense that this is his motivation. As Bond jumps from one exotic locale to the next, killing henchmen, riding speedboats and jumping out of planes, the script barely gives us a sense of the hurt or pain that is driving him and his mission.
There are only glimpses of his anger. Bond keeps killing suspects before they can be questioned; he mostly ignores M's orders, and so on. But then in every film since Dr. No the character has been a maverick that doesn't play by the rules. Never do we feel that the agent is so irreparably damaged by Vespa's death that he's willing to go completely over the edge in seeking retribution.
Indeed if you hadn't seen Casino Royale, you would barely be aware that the reason for all this violence and death was Bond's anger that his girlfriend was forced to betray him and then kill herself. This theme was deliciously set up by the first movie, but left criminally half-baked in QOS.
It's a shame for Daniel Craig, who despite the issues with the script, continues to excel as Bond, debunking once and for all the idiot trash talk of those at craigisnotbond.com and their ilk. Playing the role like a suave nightclub bouncer, Craig expertly conveys the violent tendencies that lurk just beneath his paper-thin veneer of upper-class British civility. He simply inhabits the character in a way no-one has since Sean Connery.
The actor is also once again willing to smash himself through windows, walls and tables in the various action set pieces. As with Casino Royale, we see Bond battered, bruised and bloodied in various Bourne-style hand-to-hand fight scenes and 'parkour' inspired chases. It's all thrilling stuff, but - and here's another big criticism - never quite as heart-pounding or thrilling as we'd expected.
Maybe helmer Marc Forster is somewhat to blame for this. An intriguing choice for the gig having built his career on well-acted emotional dramas such as Finding Neverland and Monsters Ball, his direction of the action sequences is nonetheless slightly too choppy and disorientating to truly thrill.
Another couple of big set-pieces, a brilliantly realised, but kind-of-unrealistic jump out of a plane, and the film's big face-off finale, also didn't quite push our adrenaline buttons. There is nothing to match the genius of Casino Royale's free-running sequence for example, or The Bourne Ultimatum's Morrocan knife fight.
Mathieu Almaric (who made his name with a quite sublime turn in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) is another of QOS's near misses as the head villain. The actor is perfect 'evil criminal mastermind' material, with his bulging eyes, twisted smile and Gallic arrogance. But the script never lets him be quite as sick, threatening or slimy as you feel he could be.
Luckily Bond's babes don't disappoint. The ridiculously beautiful Olga Kurylenko is a kind of counter-point to 007. She excels as another damaged secret service agent who is similarly motivated by revenge - in her case against the Bolivian general who killed her family.
Gemma Arterton meanwhile, whose stern British consulate worker appears seemingly wearing a mac with nothing underneath, is underused but still gets the film's best line. Having shown 007 to this hotel room, we cut to a few hours later, with the pair in bed and Bond kissing her back - "I hate myself for this!" she says, smiling ruefully.
Judi Dench's M, whose character seemingly grows in importance with every movie, is also superb. Her complex relationship with 007, part despairing boss, part mother-figure, is one of the most well developed aspects of the film and in a sense its emotional heart - with her MI5 chief the only woman Bond can really connect with.
Ultimately QOS is a difficult film to review in the sense that there is nothing outrageously wrong with it. The movie is an excellently acted, gritty, crunching thriller that seldom lets up its pacy intensity. Despite some of the problems with Forster's direction, it's still a cracking action film.
However, we were hoping for something more. There's a moment in the trailer where Bond emerges from the top of a hill in a desert, sub-machine-gun in hand, his face drained of emotion, seemingly poised to complete the character's journey from rookie agent to avenging, emotionally broken, vengeful, cold-hearted killing machine. QOS never lives up to that spine-tingling moment of promise.
http://movies.ign.com/articles/921/921477p2.html
Quantum of Solace
Moderator: Germangirl
Blue eyes on fire and jaw set to resolute, Daniel Craig clearly owns Bond in Quantum of Solace: but it's the relentless pace, the quality of art direction and production design – in fact, director Marc Forster's sheer technical ambition – which raise the bar and make this one of the most remarkable action films ever made. Bond fans may hanker after his gadgets or some of the camp which Craig & co have so resolutely extracted from the role, Casino Royale converts might, justifiably, wish for a stronger story, but one thing is certain: as an action film, this will be a tough act to follow.
Bond is the longest-running film franchise (this is No. 22) with a far-flung, fussy fanbase which may carp at Craig and Forster's de-cheesing of 007, coupled with a not-entirely-convincing plot. On the other hand, this 007 will undoubtedly continue to bring in new audiences alongside the action crowd which has previously regarded the franchise as quaint. Casino Royale's worldwide tally of $594m is certainly reachable, and this streamlined film could attract more American viewers than previous Bond incarnations. Quantum firmly establishes Bond as a reinvigorated, muscular franchise, perhaps, even, closer in spirit to Ian Fleming's 007, and the "new Bond" box office boost of Craig should continue.
Certainly, the $431m worldwide tally of Die Another Day (2002) seems consigned to Bond's past along with Q and his gadgets.
Notices will focus – rightly - on Craig's magnetism as the steely, sexy, murderous MI5 agent, but two other factors weigh in and freshen up proceedings: Forster's new technical team, led by cinematographer Roberto Schaefer and production designer Dennis Gassner. And the ongoing shift of M, as played by Judi Dench, to front and centre: the Bond girls fade into insignificance as she becomes his moral counterpoint and theirs is the only real relationship on screen.
The plot makes much reference – perhaps too much, for action fans have a notoriously short memory – to the plot of Casino Royale and Bond's bitterness and thirst for vengeance over his lost love, Vesper. His quest leads him to a sinister organisation, a very traditional Bond SPECTRE-like grouping of crime lords fronted by Mathieu Almaric (The Diving Bell And The Butterfly) as Mr Greene, who is using the cover of environmentalism to overthrow the Bolivian government.
Returning from Casino Royale, writers Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis & Robert Wade obviously have, with Craig, a strong sense of who Bond is, and their plot peels back to emphasise Bond's sheer ruthlessness, his brutal killings a punctuation mark on Forster's elaborate set pieces, which include, memorably, Bond dropping from a plane without the benefit of a parachute. Of course we've come to expect the dramatic 007 opening – this time a car chase through the Italian alps - and the credit sequence is particularly nice, but when Quantum of Solace launches Bond over the rooftops of Siena and into the Palio without pausing for breath it becomes clear that this is going to be ambitious, if nothing else.
And the pace doesn't really let up. The first 45 minutes – of a zippy 106-minute film (Casino Royale came in at 147 minutes) - are an unadulterated adrenalin charge of set piece after set piece. The locations are terrific: Quantum shot in Mexico, Panama, Italy, Austria and Chile, outside its home base of Pinewood. With plenty to chose from, a Tosca sequence shot at the Bregenz Festival House in Austria stands out: using the production's original sets and cast it leads Forster into a Godfather-style cutting sequence (and is credited with its own crew).
Supporting cast find it hard to make their mark when set against Bond, M and the pyrotechnics onscreen. Olga Kurylenko is servicable as Camille, a Bolivian national out to avenge the deaths of her family. Giancarlo Giannini returns as Mathis, for those who studied Casino Royale – many viewers will remember who he is just as it's too late. More memorable is Gemma Arterton in the traditional Bond girl role – her character is called Strawberry Fields, and her demise a tribute to Goldfinger. Indeed, this Bond enjoys twisting the legend: a scene where Craig turns the charm on a female airline check-in clerk is delectably under-done; he has to steal his tux; he's on his seventh martini when we get the "shaken not stirred" routine.
Bond is, as has been previously noted, practically the Martin Scorsese of the BAFTAs: 22 films later, with grosses probably close to the GDP of one of the small nations it depicts, it's still waiting for that Alexander Korda award. The best Casino Royale could achieve was a gong for sound. Will this be the year that changes its fortunes?
source: http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyA ... ryID=41477
Bond is the longest-running film franchise (this is No. 22) with a far-flung, fussy fanbase which may carp at Craig and Forster's de-cheesing of 007, coupled with a not-entirely-convincing plot. On the other hand, this 007 will undoubtedly continue to bring in new audiences alongside the action crowd which has previously regarded the franchise as quaint. Casino Royale's worldwide tally of $594m is certainly reachable, and this streamlined film could attract more American viewers than previous Bond incarnations. Quantum firmly establishes Bond as a reinvigorated, muscular franchise, perhaps, even, closer in spirit to Ian Fleming's 007, and the "new Bond" box office boost of Craig should continue.
Certainly, the $431m worldwide tally of Die Another Day (2002) seems consigned to Bond's past along with Q and his gadgets.
Notices will focus – rightly - on Craig's magnetism as the steely, sexy, murderous MI5 agent, but two other factors weigh in and freshen up proceedings: Forster's new technical team, led by cinematographer Roberto Schaefer and production designer Dennis Gassner. And the ongoing shift of M, as played by Judi Dench, to front and centre: the Bond girls fade into insignificance as she becomes his moral counterpoint and theirs is the only real relationship on screen.
The plot makes much reference – perhaps too much, for action fans have a notoriously short memory – to the plot of Casino Royale and Bond's bitterness and thirst for vengeance over his lost love, Vesper. His quest leads him to a sinister organisation, a very traditional Bond SPECTRE-like grouping of crime lords fronted by Mathieu Almaric (The Diving Bell And The Butterfly) as Mr Greene, who is using the cover of environmentalism to overthrow the Bolivian government.
Returning from Casino Royale, writers Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis & Robert Wade obviously have, with Craig, a strong sense of who Bond is, and their plot peels back to emphasise Bond's sheer ruthlessness, his brutal killings a punctuation mark on Forster's elaborate set pieces, which include, memorably, Bond dropping from a plane without the benefit of a parachute. Of course we've come to expect the dramatic 007 opening – this time a car chase through the Italian alps - and the credit sequence is particularly nice, but when Quantum of Solace launches Bond over the rooftops of Siena and into the Palio without pausing for breath it becomes clear that this is going to be ambitious, if nothing else.
And the pace doesn't really let up. The first 45 minutes – of a zippy 106-minute film (Casino Royale came in at 147 minutes) - are an unadulterated adrenalin charge of set piece after set piece. The locations are terrific: Quantum shot in Mexico, Panama, Italy, Austria and Chile, outside its home base of Pinewood. With plenty to chose from, a Tosca sequence shot at the Bregenz Festival House in Austria stands out: using the production's original sets and cast it leads Forster into a Godfather-style cutting sequence (and is credited with its own crew).
Supporting cast find it hard to make their mark when set against Bond, M and the pyrotechnics onscreen. Olga Kurylenko is servicable as Camille, a Bolivian national out to avenge the deaths of her family. Giancarlo Giannini returns as Mathis, for those who studied Casino Royale – many viewers will remember who he is just as it's too late. More memorable is Gemma Arterton in the traditional Bond girl role – her character is called Strawberry Fields, and her demise a tribute to Goldfinger. Indeed, this Bond enjoys twisting the legend: a scene where Craig turns the charm on a female airline check-in clerk is delectably under-done; he has to steal his tux; he's on his seventh martini when we get the "shaken not stirred" routine.
Bond is, as has been previously noted, practically the Martin Scorsese of the BAFTAs: 22 films later, with grosses probably close to the GDP of one of the small nations it depicts, it's still waiting for that Alexander Korda award. The best Casino Royale could achieve was a gong for sound. Will this be the year that changes its fortunes?
source: http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyA ... ryID=41477
Quantum of Solace
(2008)
4/5
Daniel Craig makes an assured return as James Bond in the first direct sequel in the franchise. The action picks up one hour after Casino Royale left off, with Bond looking for answers after the death of his lover Vesper Lynd. This leads to Quantum, a mysterious organisation that has infiltrated the world's corridors of power, and through the front of eco-campaigner Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) is backing a regime change in Bolivia. Shifting loyalties and outright betrayals force Bond to defy his paymasters and team with Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a woman equally motivated by revenge. Director Marc Forster (The Kite Runner) succeeds in balancing the globe-trotting excesses of the series with a paranoid and engaging storyline. And although the drama does feel subservient to the stunts, that's a minor quibble given their sheer quality and variety. (As well as the noisy chases on land, sea and in the air, there's an artfully mounted gun battle at the opera and a brutal one-on-one encounter in an anonymous hotel room.) The close-up camerawork employed to such exhilarating effect in the The Bourne Ultimatum also works wonders here, but never detracts from the performance of Craig, whose focused take on Ian Fleming's hero goes from strength to strength. JH
http://www.radiotimes.com/servlet_film/ ... peSelect=5
(2008)
4/5
Daniel Craig makes an assured return as James Bond in the first direct sequel in the franchise. The action picks up one hour after Casino Royale left off, with Bond looking for answers after the death of his lover Vesper Lynd. This leads to Quantum, a mysterious organisation that has infiltrated the world's corridors of power, and through the front of eco-campaigner Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) is backing a regime change in Bolivia. Shifting loyalties and outright betrayals force Bond to defy his paymasters and team with Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a woman equally motivated by revenge. Director Marc Forster (The Kite Runner) succeeds in balancing the globe-trotting excesses of the series with a paranoid and engaging storyline. And although the drama does feel subservient to the stunts, that's a minor quibble given their sheer quality and variety. (As well as the noisy chases on land, sea and in the air, there's an artfully mounted gun battle at the opera and a brutal one-on-one encounter in an anonymous hotel room.) The close-up camerawork employed to such exhilarating effect in the The Bourne Ultimatum also works wonders here, but never detracts from the performance of Craig, whose focused take on Ian Fleming's hero goes from strength to strength. JH
http://www.radiotimes.com/servlet_film/ ... peSelect=5
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A very good review indeed.advicky wrote:Quantum of Solace
(2008)
4/5
Daniel Craig makes an assured return as James Bond in the first direct sequel in the franchise. The action picks up one hour after Casino Royale left off, with Bond looking for answers after the death of his lover Vesper Lynd. This leads to Quantum, a mysterious organisation that has infiltrated the world's corridors of power, and through the front of eco-campaigner Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) is backing a regime change in Bolivia. Shifting loyalties and outright betrayals force Bond to defy his paymasters and team with Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a woman equally motivated by revenge. Director Marc Forster (The Kite Runner) succeeds in balancing the globe-trotting excesses of the series with a paranoid and engaging storyline. And although the drama does feel subservient to the stunts, that's a minor quibble given their sheer quality and variety. (As well as the noisy chases on land, sea and in the air, there's an artfully mounted gun battle at the opera and a brutal one-on-one encounter in an anonymous hotel room.) The close-up camerawork employed to such exhilarating effect in the The Bourne Ultimatum also works wonders here, but never detracts from the performance of Craig, whose focused take on Ian Fleming's hero goes from strength to strength. JH
http://www.radiotimes.com/servlet_film/ ... peSelect=5
"Love anyway. Live anyway. Choose to part of this anyway”
Paul's Review: "Quantum of Solace"
The twenty-second Bond film arrives amidst huge expectations and it is a curious work, with some stunning set pieces amidst a flurry of extraneous action scenes. This would be the first time in the franchise's history that a Bond film be a direct sequel to its predecessor, "Casino Royale", itself a strong adaptation of the Fleming novel.
However, insisting on taking the character on an extended journey from 'Royale', screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis have concocted a rather dark and sinister tale and a consistently darker interpretation of the character that was never part of either the Fleming basis of the character or previous interpretations from Sean Connery to Timothy Dalton. Craig's 007 is a little lighter in tone than in 'Royale' but his thirst for revenge plays havoc with an iconic character who, in 'Solace', is very grim. Of course the Bond films have never been about character development, and this one is no exception.
The film opens with a frenetic car chase through the back streets of Sienna, Italy and while it opens with a bang, not a whimper, its fast cutting visual approach employed by director Marc Forster doesn't serve the film that well. One has the distinct feeling that the opening is a generic action film and takes some time for it to settle into a Bond-like rhythm. Once it does so, "Quantum of Solace" evolves into a fine work, offering some verbal drollery that "Casino Royale" lacked.
There are some stunning set pieces in 'Solace' that prove what a formidable filmmaker Forster is, including a collage sequence during the staging of an opera which is beautifully done, counterbalancing the tragedy of that Puccini opera with gun play between Bond and those that make up this secret Quantum organization that Bond is trying to pull down.
There is an extraordinary mid-air chase sequence which is breathtaking, and cinematographer Roberto Schaefer, a frequent collaborator of Forster's, knows how to shoot in the film's disparate locations, accentuating a striking visual tone for the major locales that range from Haiti to earthly browns that represent Bolivia. Sharply edited by Matt Chesse, who cut many of Forster's films including the likes of Kite Runner and Finding Neverland, edits with precision, and Forster's direction is crisp.
Clocking in well under two hours, the shortest Bond film in years, one wonders how much was cut as the film's narrative seems to be less fluid than in 'Royale' and other Bond films, but Forster does elicit first rate performances from the fabulous Mathieu Amalric who makes for an interesting, complex villain, and the luminous Olga Kurylenko who is a very different Bond girl from what we are used to.
"Quantum of Solace" is visually striking and moves at a frenetic pace, but its over abundance of action sequences detract from a fluidity that is needed. Ardent fans of 007 will long for a return of a more charming, humorous Bond, but then the Connery films are in a league of their own. The film's title song is also mediocre and seems to suggest that the franchise caters for a young audience without really doing justice to Fleming's creation.
'Solace' is not a bad film by any means; it's energetic, entertaining and looks stunning. One hopes that moving forward the franchise develops the sly sense of humour that beautifully defined the earlier films. "Quantum of Solace" is a superb action film but only a 'good' Bond movie.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/081020e.php
The twenty-second Bond film arrives amidst huge expectations and it is a curious work, with some stunning set pieces amidst a flurry of extraneous action scenes. This would be the first time in the franchise's history that a Bond film be a direct sequel to its predecessor, "Casino Royale", itself a strong adaptation of the Fleming novel.
However, insisting on taking the character on an extended journey from 'Royale', screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis have concocted a rather dark and sinister tale and a consistently darker interpretation of the character that was never part of either the Fleming basis of the character or previous interpretations from Sean Connery to Timothy Dalton. Craig's 007 is a little lighter in tone than in 'Royale' but his thirst for revenge plays havoc with an iconic character who, in 'Solace', is very grim. Of course the Bond films have never been about character development, and this one is no exception.
The film opens with a frenetic car chase through the back streets of Sienna, Italy and while it opens with a bang, not a whimper, its fast cutting visual approach employed by director Marc Forster doesn't serve the film that well. One has the distinct feeling that the opening is a generic action film and takes some time for it to settle into a Bond-like rhythm. Once it does so, "Quantum of Solace" evolves into a fine work, offering some verbal drollery that "Casino Royale" lacked.
There are some stunning set pieces in 'Solace' that prove what a formidable filmmaker Forster is, including a collage sequence during the staging of an opera which is beautifully done, counterbalancing the tragedy of that Puccini opera with gun play between Bond and those that make up this secret Quantum organization that Bond is trying to pull down.
There is an extraordinary mid-air chase sequence which is breathtaking, and cinematographer Roberto Schaefer, a frequent collaborator of Forster's, knows how to shoot in the film's disparate locations, accentuating a striking visual tone for the major locales that range from Haiti to earthly browns that represent Bolivia. Sharply edited by Matt Chesse, who cut many of Forster's films including the likes of Kite Runner and Finding Neverland, edits with precision, and Forster's direction is crisp.
Clocking in well under two hours, the shortest Bond film in years, one wonders how much was cut as the film's narrative seems to be less fluid than in 'Royale' and other Bond films, but Forster does elicit first rate performances from the fabulous Mathieu Amalric who makes for an interesting, complex villain, and the luminous Olga Kurylenko who is a very different Bond girl from what we are used to.
"Quantum of Solace" is visually striking and moves at a frenetic pace, but its over abundance of action sequences detract from a fluidity that is needed. Ardent fans of 007 will long for a return of a more charming, humorous Bond, but then the Connery films are in a league of their own. The film's title song is also mediocre and seems to suggest that the franchise caters for a young audience without really doing justice to Fleming's creation.
'Solace' is not a bad film by any means; it's energetic, entertaining and looks stunning. One hopes that moving forward the franchise develops the sly sense of humour that beautifully defined the earlier films. "Quantum of Solace" is a superb action film but only a 'good' Bond movie.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/081020e.php
Anyone know what the boys over at CBN have to say about it. These reviews must be stirring up some Bond fanatic chatter!advicky wrote: "Quantum of Solace" is a superb action film but only a 'good' Bond movie.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/081020e.php
bumblebee wrote:Anyone know what the boys over at CBN have to say about it. These reviews must be stirring up some Bond fanatic chatter!advicky wrote: "Quantum of Solace" is a superb action film but only a 'good' Bond movie.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/081020e.php
most of the CBN boys take it with grace
well as long as some of them are discussing the placing of the gun barrel sequence.......
Apologies if this was already posted, I can't keep up with all the reviews. I thought this was an especially apt review of the movie if just for this paragraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jh ... tum118.xmlSo, if Quantum of Solace lacks Casino Royale's narrative drive, and is less than the sum of its parts, those parts are often terrific. See it for them, and see it for Craig's fully-formed Bond: angry, icily unsentimental, and fleetingly borderline psychotic at the close.
Hi 
Thanks for all the reviews put on this site. I will leave my judgment until I have seen the film as I don't always agree with critics and what they are looking for is not necessarily what I'm looking for in a movie. I want to see QofS and make my own mind up. At least there's gorgeous Daniel to stare at!!! What more could a girl want?
Also very soon you ladies will post your opinions on the Forum and I will of course read these and I trust your judgments about the movie and Daniel.
Can someone tell me what Quantum of Solace means? It's a strange title to a movie and I do see from one review Quantum is the name of a Group - is that right?
I see Gemma Arterton gets the action in the bedroom so I presume James doesn't romance Olga's character or am I wrong? Sounds like there's a lot of action in the movie!!!!
Sue xxx
Thanks for all the reviews put on this site. I will leave my judgment until I have seen the film as I don't always agree with critics and what they are looking for is not necessarily what I'm looking for in a movie. I want to see QofS and make my own mind up. At least there's gorgeous Daniel to stare at!!!
What more could a girl want? Also very soon you ladies will post your opinions on the Forum and I will of course read these and I trust your judgments about the movie and Daniel.
Can someone tell me what Quantum of Solace means? It's a strange title to a movie and I do see from one review Quantum is the name of a Group - is that right?
I see Gemma Arterton gets the action in the bedroom so I presume James doesn't romance Olga's character or am I wrong? Sounds like there's a lot of action in the movie!!!!
Sue xxx
Hi there Daniel fans. Please feel free to e-mail me as I love to hear from others to keep me in touch with what's going on with Daniel!!! He is such an amazing actor, has amazing looks, those blue eyes and a sexy voice!!!
i saw the one of the trailers on a sony hi-def screen
daniel's eyes WERE SOOO F-ing BLUE
poor olga looked like she has an odd shade of fake tanner on
CGI looked a bit cheap
i am having my pennies for a sony hi-def
daniel's eyes WERE SOOO F-ing BLUE
poor olga looked like she has an odd shade of fake tanner on
CGI looked a bit cheap
i am having my pennies for a sony hi-def
Samuel Adams :
Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: first, a right to life; secondly, to liberty; thirdly to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can.
Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: first, a right to life; secondly, to liberty; thirdly to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can.
Quantum Of Solace
GQ.COM rating: ****
Casino Royale saw Bond rebooted – Bourne again, if you will. And at the outset of Quantum Of Solace you’d be forgiven for forgetting that you’re watching 007 and not the absent-minded assassin: car chases, rooftop pursuits, hand-to-hand combat. Indeed, the hand of Dan Bradley, stunt supremo on the Bourne trilogy, is immediately apparent. If you can’t beat them, convince their expert on beating people up to join you.
Except that the car being thrashed in the thrilling opening isn’t a Lada; it’s a full-throated Aston Martin. The setting isn’t a drab Eastern Bloc city; it’s scenic Lake Garda. And as Bond (Daniel Craig, in his second outing) swells his MI6 expense account with another wreck before nonchalantly exiting, as unruffled as the lining of his Tom Ford suit, we’re reminded why nobody does it better. Just as Ian Fleming’s novels transported a rationed post-WWII public to a world of fine dining, international travel and sports cars, so today’s credit-crunched audience is whisked to Italy, Haiti, Austria, Bolivia and Russia, with Bond flying first class and gleefully blowing his cover in order to check himself into the best hotel in town. Who wants grey realism when you can have brilliant escapism?
Although the title borrows from a Fleming short story, the plot is original, picking up minutes after Casino Royale left off. Le Chiffre’s money trail leads Bond to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Almaric) and the mysterious Quantum organisation, a 21st-century SPECTRE, which plots to monopolise “the world’s most precious resource”. In bed with corrupt regimes and the CIA, and with “people everywhere”, the oily Greene slowly turns everyone against Bond, who finds himself increasingly out in the cold as he pursues his personal agenda – revenge for Vesper Lynd’s death – from one sun-drenched exotic locale to the next, accompanied by an equally vengeful Camille (Olga Kurylenko).
Craig’s Bond is still a “blunt instrument”, but he also has flashes of rapier wit and charm, enticing Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton) into his hotel suite with delightful matter-of-factness. Director Marc Forster meanwhile brings a visual artistry uncommon to Bond – a foot pursuit and gunfight are paralleled with Siena’s Palio horserace and a Puccini opera respectively – and the very occasional pause for breath (this is the shortest instalment yet) gives Craig chance to flex his acting chops rather than his much-publicised muscles, thereby maintaining the film’s emotional heart. OK, so the pace could be a little less breakneck, the camera work less kinetic, and a smidgeon more exposition wouldn’t go amiss. Ultimately though, Quantum follows Casino Royale in reinstating the Bond supremacy. Over to you, Mr Webb. Jamie Millar
http://www.gqmagazine.co.uk/Style/CoolS ... ms&id=1126
FILM REVIEW: QUANTUM OF SOLACE
***
DIRECTED BY Marc Forster
STARRING Daniel Craig, Matthieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko
Cumbersome title aside, it would be churlish to underestimate the amount of goodwill directed towards what, for brevity’s sake, we’ll stick to calling Bond 22.
Certainly, its predecessor, Casino Royale, was the most successful Bond yet, a hefty bump on the balance sheets due, principally, to the arrival of a new 007 and the series’ widely praised new direction. Out went spaceships and henchmen with metal teeth, to be replaced by a more robust psychological investigation of what makes Bond, well, Bond. Not so much a reboot, then, as a complete bottom-up reinvention; itself a pretty daring undertaking in the old dogs/new tricks department.
So it is, we come to Poultice Of Solitude expecting plenty. To begin with, there’s the Jack White/Alicia Keys theme song, but more importantly we are promised a direct continuation of the events in Casino Royale, with Bond hunting the organisation he believes is accountable for the death of his girlfriend, Vesper Lynd. That title, in fact, refers to the small amount of comfort you might take from a situation where everything else has gone completely wrong; for Bond, it’s all about revenge.
It’s potentially terribly juicy stuff, and Daniel Craig, out of all the Bonds – with the possible exception of the classically trained Timothy Dalton – has the acting chops to pull it off. But the film is let down by a conspicuous lack of rounded characterization. 007 aside, there’s Camille (Kurylenko), who’s also out for revenge, against a South American General who killed her family. Both she and Bond are intriguingly described as “damaged goods”, but there’s very little further elaboration on that in the script. One speech Bond delivers on his philosophy of killing opens the door a crack, but it swiftly slams back shut again; it tantalizingly reopens again later amid suggested hints of Bond’s incipient alcoholism. Then, bang, it’s shut again.
There are other elements that are also given infuriatingly short shrift. One major arc follows the shifting post-colonial power games in South America being played largely between the British and Americans that recalls Graham Greene. In fact, at point one, Bond’s CIA friend Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) looks perilously like he’s going to assume the role of one of Greene’s whiskey priests. But, sadly, that recedes into the background with all the grace of a SPECTRE assassin.
The problem seems to be in the pacing, which has a breathless urgency about it. At 1 hour 46 minutes, it’s the shortest Bond movie made, and certainly things rush past at a gallop, the filmmakers privileging action sequences at the expense of dialogue and – the supposed selling point of New Bond – insight. Car chase? Check. Boat chase? Check. Aeroplane chase? Check. Big set piece where a massive desert complex gets blown to pieces? Oh, yes.
Craig – sleek, muscular, cruel – seems to take delight when told “There is something horribly efficient about you.” Matthieu Amalric’s Dominic Greene – a businessman working for the Quantum organisation – has a certain oily arrogance. Meanwhile, Kurylenko rather gamely refuses to comply with traditional Bond girl requirements.
Marc Forster – an interesting enough choice for director, with movies like Monster’s Ball and Finding Neverland – adds some artful flourishes. One sequence, crosscutting between a performance of Tosca at the Bregenz Festival House in Austria and a shoot out in the building’s kitchens, may be Coppola-lite, but it’s refreshing to see in a movie like this. As is a striking use of black or white costumes in one night scene.
For all these welcome touches, and Craig's steely Bond, it felt like a series of action set pieces in search of a plot and, more pressingly, the much-promised character development.
http://uncut.co.uk/film/daniel_craig/reviews/12324
GQ.COM rating: ****
Casino Royale saw Bond rebooted – Bourne again, if you will. And at the outset of Quantum Of Solace you’d be forgiven for forgetting that you’re watching 007 and not the absent-minded assassin: car chases, rooftop pursuits, hand-to-hand combat. Indeed, the hand of Dan Bradley, stunt supremo on the Bourne trilogy, is immediately apparent. If you can’t beat them, convince their expert on beating people up to join you.
Except that the car being thrashed in the thrilling opening isn’t a Lada; it’s a full-throated Aston Martin. The setting isn’t a drab Eastern Bloc city; it’s scenic Lake Garda. And as Bond (Daniel Craig, in his second outing) swells his MI6 expense account with another wreck before nonchalantly exiting, as unruffled as the lining of his Tom Ford suit, we’re reminded why nobody does it better. Just as Ian Fleming’s novels transported a rationed post-WWII public to a world of fine dining, international travel and sports cars, so today’s credit-crunched audience is whisked to Italy, Haiti, Austria, Bolivia and Russia, with Bond flying first class and gleefully blowing his cover in order to check himself into the best hotel in town. Who wants grey realism when you can have brilliant escapism?
Although the title borrows from a Fleming short story, the plot is original, picking up minutes after Casino Royale left off. Le Chiffre’s money trail leads Bond to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Almaric) and the mysterious Quantum organisation, a 21st-century SPECTRE, which plots to monopolise “the world’s most precious resource”. In bed with corrupt regimes and the CIA, and with “people everywhere”, the oily Greene slowly turns everyone against Bond, who finds himself increasingly out in the cold as he pursues his personal agenda – revenge for Vesper Lynd’s death – from one sun-drenched exotic locale to the next, accompanied by an equally vengeful Camille (Olga Kurylenko).
Craig’s Bond is still a “blunt instrument”, but he also has flashes of rapier wit and charm, enticing Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton) into his hotel suite with delightful matter-of-factness. Director Marc Forster meanwhile brings a visual artistry uncommon to Bond – a foot pursuit and gunfight are paralleled with Siena’s Palio horserace and a Puccini opera respectively – and the very occasional pause for breath (this is the shortest instalment yet) gives Craig chance to flex his acting chops rather than his much-publicised muscles, thereby maintaining the film’s emotional heart. OK, so the pace could be a little less breakneck, the camera work less kinetic, and a smidgeon more exposition wouldn’t go amiss. Ultimately though, Quantum follows Casino Royale in reinstating the Bond supremacy. Over to you, Mr Webb. Jamie Millar
http://www.gqmagazine.co.uk/Style/CoolS ... ms&id=1126
FILM REVIEW: QUANTUM OF SOLACE
***
DIRECTED BY Marc Forster
STARRING Daniel Craig, Matthieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko
Cumbersome title aside, it would be churlish to underestimate the amount of goodwill directed towards what, for brevity’s sake, we’ll stick to calling Bond 22.
Certainly, its predecessor, Casino Royale, was the most successful Bond yet, a hefty bump on the balance sheets due, principally, to the arrival of a new 007 and the series’ widely praised new direction. Out went spaceships and henchmen with metal teeth, to be replaced by a more robust psychological investigation of what makes Bond, well, Bond. Not so much a reboot, then, as a complete bottom-up reinvention; itself a pretty daring undertaking in the old dogs/new tricks department.
So it is, we come to Poultice Of Solitude expecting plenty. To begin with, there’s the Jack White/Alicia Keys theme song, but more importantly we are promised a direct continuation of the events in Casino Royale, with Bond hunting the organisation he believes is accountable for the death of his girlfriend, Vesper Lynd. That title, in fact, refers to the small amount of comfort you might take from a situation where everything else has gone completely wrong; for Bond, it’s all about revenge.
It’s potentially terribly juicy stuff, and Daniel Craig, out of all the Bonds – with the possible exception of the classically trained Timothy Dalton – has the acting chops to pull it off. But the film is let down by a conspicuous lack of rounded characterization. 007 aside, there’s Camille (Kurylenko), who’s also out for revenge, against a South American General who killed her family. Both she and Bond are intriguingly described as “damaged goods”, but there’s very little further elaboration on that in the script. One speech Bond delivers on his philosophy of killing opens the door a crack, but it swiftly slams back shut again; it tantalizingly reopens again later amid suggested hints of Bond’s incipient alcoholism. Then, bang, it’s shut again.
There are other elements that are also given infuriatingly short shrift. One major arc follows the shifting post-colonial power games in South America being played largely between the British and Americans that recalls Graham Greene. In fact, at point one, Bond’s CIA friend Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) looks perilously like he’s going to assume the role of one of Greene’s whiskey priests. But, sadly, that recedes into the background with all the grace of a SPECTRE assassin.
The problem seems to be in the pacing, which has a breathless urgency about it. At 1 hour 46 minutes, it’s the shortest Bond movie made, and certainly things rush past at a gallop, the filmmakers privileging action sequences at the expense of dialogue and – the supposed selling point of New Bond – insight. Car chase? Check. Boat chase? Check. Aeroplane chase? Check. Big set piece where a massive desert complex gets blown to pieces? Oh, yes.
Craig – sleek, muscular, cruel – seems to take delight when told “There is something horribly efficient about you.” Matthieu Amalric’s Dominic Greene – a businessman working for the Quantum organisation – has a certain oily arrogance. Meanwhile, Kurylenko rather gamely refuses to comply with traditional Bond girl requirements.
Marc Forster – an interesting enough choice for director, with movies like Monster’s Ball and Finding Neverland – adds some artful flourishes. One sequence, crosscutting between a performance of Tosca at the Bregenz Festival House in Austria and a shoot out in the building’s kitchens, may be Coppola-lite, but it’s refreshing to see in a movie like this. As is a striking use of black or white costumes in one night scene.
For all these welcome touches, and Craig's steely Bond, it felt like a series of action set pieces in search of a plot and, more pressingly, the much-promised character development.
http://uncut.co.uk/film/daniel_craig/reviews/12324