007: Quantum Of Solace

[cron]

three word review: elegant and precise.

[last days of gerry the elephant]

Meh...

I was never a fan of the Bond series but I was forced to see this today with some friends. Unfortunately, I didn't care much for the action sequences and when you're not buying into the action, don't expect the plot to keep you awake. But to give credit where it's due, I really did like some of the 'montage' esque cuts during and after the action sequences. Specifically, keeping descriptions general, after the boat sequence you have a sudden drop of sound and this helps you draw your undivided attention towards Bond in the moment. Also the ballroom/restaurant... maybe these are some of the stylistic references Gold Trumpet is talking about?

[Gold Trumpet]

Meh...

I was never a fan of the Bond series but I was forced to see this today with some friends. Unfortunately, I didn't care much for the action sequences and when you're not buying into the action, don't expect the plot to keep you awake. But to give credit where it's due, I really did like some of the 'montage' esque cuts during and after the action sequences. Specifically, keeping descriptions general, after the boat sequence you have a sudden drop of sound and this helps you draw your undivided attention towards Bond in the moment. Also the ballroom/restaurant... maybe these are some of the stylistic references Gold Trumpet is talking about?

I completely understand the review. I've loved Bond my entire life and I always knew the films were horrible. They were cheesy and ridiculous, but the appeal was always Bond for me and the hope a good film about him could be made. Quantum of Solace is the most impressive Bond film by far. It far out reaches what even Casino Royale did, but it's still just a well manufactured rendering of a pulp figure. If you weren't into it then you never will be.

About the stylistic references, I've seen the film a second time and it's all clear to me. The stylistic references are European based, specifically in European art cinema. Bond isn't tredding new ground by trying to introduce these stylistic references, but he is doing a lot of good with keeping the references surface level and for action effect mainly. Quantum of Solace is still a Bond film with genuine Bond ideas. I think when a lot of other Hollywood try to take on structured ideas like these they also try to bend the narrative and meaning of the film to suit the European style. The result is a psuedo bullshit intellectual Hollywood film pretending to be something it isn't. Quantum of Solace uses the references as just a new flavor for the standard cake.

But, I like that references are from European cinema. Bond is the European counterpart to Jason Bourne. The film exemplifies Europe with the picturesque settings and lovely women, so the film should make its stylistic references home oriented. When the Bourne series transitioned in Supremacy the series took on a lot of documentarian tendecies with the handheld camerawork. Documentary cinema has existed in every major country for as long as the United States, but this country has the most famous documentarians. I also believe we produce the most documentarian features of any country. I can't explain exactly why I feel this way, but the gritty handheld look to the Bourne series feels inherently more American. With the changes Quantum of Solace brings to the series actually makes Bond feel more European.

I prefer Bond because I can see the stylistic thought between the action sequences. The fighting and chase sequences all look the same, but I see the differences in how they are filmed. There are different tools being used to record and interpret each action sequence. The filming of the sequences got a little bland with the later ones in the film, but I saw some wonderful expressions in most of them. With Bourne it is all at one level of documentary intensity. That term may be a little simplistic, but Greengrass never truly got lyrical with his style until United 93. The way the story and filmmaking built up to a perfect storm in the final moments was incredible. In the Bourne Ultimatum he tamed the style to make it better readable to the viewer, but the style lacks a certain variety. Forster was using different things in all of the action sequences. 

[pete]

was the action all chopped up and incomprehensible?  that's all I'd like to know.

[ElPandaRoyal]

was the action all chopped up and incomprehensible?  that's all I'd like to know.

Sometimes, yes it was, unfortunately. That's my major problem with this movie, but there are some other action scenes that succeed. I'm not even a Bond fan, I didn't care about Casino Royale at all, but I did like this one.

[MacGuffin]

Bond finds 'Solace' in $70.4M box office debut

James Bond's quantum of the weekend box office: $70.4 million. "Quantum of Solace," with Daniel Craig returning as Bond for the first direct sequel in the spy franchise, pulled in nearly $30 million more over opening weekend than its predecessor, 2006's "Casino Royale," according to studio estimates Sunday.

The debut also topped the previous opening-weekend record for a Bond flick, $47 million for 2002's "Die Another Day."

Adjusting for inflation, Sony's "Quantum of Solace" easily drew a bigger audience than that installment, the last Bond adventure featuring Pierce Brosnan. Based on 2002 admission prices, about 8.1 million tickets were sold for "Die Another Day" in the first weekend, compared to 9.8 million for "Quantum of Solace."

Two years ago, Craig was an unknown quantity as Bond, a stage-trained actor with little action experience and a resume that tended toward small, artsier films. Many fans were unhappy with the casting choice, but the critical and commercial success of "Casino Royale" silenced the critics.

"Quantum of Solace" picks up where "Casino Royale" left off, with Bond seeking to avenge the death of his lover.

"With 'Casino Royale,' people were rediscovering the franchise in a way with Daniel Craig as James Bond," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "Quite frankly, they loved it. They loved the movie, and they loved him in the role, so I think by the time `Quantum of Solace' was ready, audiences in the U.S. as well as the world audience was way ready."

"Quantum of Solace" began rolling out overseas two weekends before its U.S. debut, and its worldwide total now stands at $322 million.

[Pas]

was the action all chopped up and incomprehensible?  that's all I'd like to know.

Chopped up and incomprehensible. The camera is shaky as hell.

[Kal]

I think it borrows way too much from Bourne, but I enjoyed it. Craig is great as Bond, and the villains are always the biggest douchebags. In Bourne the villains are not as bad and they develop into interesting characters, but here you want to break his neck before he even speaks a line and every scene with the bad guy is terrible.

Still, it was fun times and that is the only reason why I guess anybody goes to see a Bond film.

[Fernando]

I thought it was pretty amazing and I enjoyed every second of it. I'm already a big Bond fan and think Daniel Craig proved himself the best Bond with just one film, but this was a much needed redirection for the series....

I'm with GT 100% on this one, Craig is the best Bond by far. Saw it twice already too.


SOME SPOILS

A friend mentioned after the movie that some ppl were complaining there were no more gadgets and I didn't even noticed until he mentioned that, and as much as I like the gadgets of some past films I'm glad they're missing, this Bond feels more real and he doesn't need gadgets, and yeah, that airplane sequence is unrealistic, but still, CR and QOS are exactly what the Bond franchise needed. And I loved Mathieu Amalric as the villain, I even wish he had lived to see more of him in the future.

Anyway, I don't get the bad rap this is getting, this is a great Bond film.

[modage]

Could've been a lot worse but could've been a lot better. The action sequences are terribly shot, disorienting and made me wish I could sit further away from a smaller screen. We feel little sympathy for Bond in this film, despite the opportunity to explore him seeking revenge. He never seems to be in any real danger and is given too little time appear sympathetic. The Bond girls are completely stock and the whole story seemed to be going through the motions.

[MacGuffin]

I never really got the sense that Bond was purely hell bent on revenge as has been mentioned in reviews I've read. Yes, Vesper's bf was his end game, but I always felt that Bond had MI6's best interest in mind. I do think that that's a credit to Craig and how he plays his Bond; getting across his motives without much use of dialogue. Quantum does excel the action (the Greengrass Bourne's are far more disorienting) from Casino, but Royale fleshed out it's characters more. Camille certainly could have been a bit more three dimensional. Although, I kinda liked that Mr. Greene was a bit of a sissy when fighting because it just made sense that he wouldn't all of a sudden be a lean, mean fighting machine. And this is why I felt this was a worthy follow-up. It picks up where we last left off, and continues the ride.

Also, a very nice nod to Goldfinger. 

[bonanzataz]

i was asleep for like, 30 minutes of this movie. was it any good?

[pete]

I liked the storytelling - very linear and well-paced.  the airplane scene was really dumb.  the dead characters made for very effective plot devices, moreso than any other recent action movie that I can remember.

I've never been a fan of james bond.  but I understood the charm of him - it's the duality between this impossibly sophisticated, "british" man and his impossibly action-packed exploits that makes it interesting.  gentleman by day, super killing and sex machine by night.  but now the gentleman part is entirely gone.  he's just some macho dude now, and that's not as fun.  it's like seeing a hooker in a porn, when she could've been a librarian.  it's as if yoda wasn't cuddly and old.  the only thing interesting about this bond is how he's better than the shitty films that came out in the 90's, but it's different from the reboot they're giving batman.  this is more akin to bruce willis doing die hard 4, except this franchise has much savvier producers who are doing much more to avert hoakiness, so they've put in shaky cameras, they've put in jack white, pakour, krav maga (that's the isreali style of military fighting techniques) - they've put in everything hip or acceptable by the most number of people possible - and that includes people who are pickier than most action fans, but they're not taking the risk to create something that's truly imaginative and entertaining.  only something proper.  a proper action movie's gotta kick a bit of ass, but a really good action movie can fuel the imagination of 10 million boys.  there's nothing iconic about the latest bond.  I thought that stunt where he flips up to grab the gun, hanging by a piece of rope, as seen the trailer, could've been that moment, but it ended being quite average in the actual movie.

but we're also in a era where there's almost a total vacuum for an action movie that delivers more than just passable entertainment - something that can really fuel one's imagination, make one ecstatic, with images, sequences, stunts, and poses that can truly excite.  the last one that did was probably the matrix.  or maybe ong bak, if more people had seen it.  instead it's the same thing over and over, varying only by taste and deftness.  thank god good scripts are still being written and good actors are still being tempted by big studios, but good movies and good scripts can't stand in for great action movies.  I guess the 80s was the era of those.  maybe they're done, like westerns or horror or courtroom drama or erotic thriller, except they're dying a much slower death, due to the size of its operation and the stubbornness of franchise owners.  I hope not.  too many people love action movies for them to fade in such a slow, tedious, and slick manner.

[RegularKarate]

Pete... I'm so incredibly with you there.

I want good action back.  So bad that if I get just a taste of it now, I savor it, leading me to forgive the rest of the movie's blandness.

[abuck1220]

this was considerably better than casino royale.  i actually watched both yesterday b/c casino royale was on showtime, and it is sooo boring. i mean, they literally play poker for like an hour. people are going to be so confused when they watch that 30 years from now, having no idea what a popular fad poker was during this time period. 

quantum of solace was so much tighter, more focused, etc.