Last night I was lucky enough to wangle a ticket to the exclusive worldwide first screening of the new James Bond film, Quantum Of Solace. Regular readers may recall my current obsession with Ian Fleming and Bond, so to get to see the film before it's general release was a genuine thrill for me, and i'm obscenely grateful to the people who enabled this to happen, you know who you are.
Set literally minutes after Casino Royale ended, the movie opens with it's usual pre-credit action sequence, but for post-Casino Royale Bond there's no jolly jape sliding down the Millennium Dome for Daniel Craig, instead we have a hard as nails car chase, with some great stunts, so realistic and pacily edited , that you almost feel each scrape and bang as the cars rattle down a mountain at full pelt. We discover Bond has had the shady Mr White captive in the boot of his car for the whole chase and Bond dutifully delivers the beaten and bleeding baddie into the arms of M, played with prim authority (as usual) by Dame Judi Dench, who aims to extract information from their captive, by whatever means necessary. We are then treated to a damp squib, of the usually iconic, title sequence, which seems half baked and underdone, which is a shame following Casino Royales great playing card suit inspired effort.
Back into the film, we learn more of the shady Smersh/Spectre-esque organisation that White belongs to, Quantum. They have, as seen in the trailer "people everywhere" including the upper echelons of MI6, and said "people" appear to spring their trap and free White. A chase ensues through the streets of Italy, and up until then I had been fairly happy with what i'd seen so far (apart from the titles), but then we are treated to a Bourne-alike chase through the city streets and rooftops. I know Bournes stunt co-ordinator, Dan Bradley, was hired to bring bigger bangs and action set pieces to Bond, but the whole sequence, (and many more to come throughout the film) just seemed to be a Bourne pastiche. I know the Bourne franchise paved the way for the new gritty realistic Bond for the 21st century, but to ape the film series to such a shameless level (roof top chase? check, tough fist fights in small enclosed apartment? check, motorbikes chase? check, have we missed anything? oh yeah jumping from building to building via windows? check) that brings absolutely nothing new to our screens, seems a sad, desperate act, for a long lived, and much loved franchise like Bond. Bond films should have action sequences that bring something new to the screen, not just a reheating of a old idea.
The plot then whistles along at great pace, hardly taking the time to explain why Bond heads for Haiti, then Austria, then Italy then England, then Columbia, and god knows where else. With a great screen writer like Paul Haggis, you'd have expected something a little more coherent from the plotting and story, but half the time, you're left scratching your head, with important dialogue being muttered at a barely audible level, in a barely understandable accent. Bond visits MI6 for some reason or another, and for some reason, the makers have decided that 21st century MI6 needs futuristic touch screen video displays a la Minority Report, which comes across as a pointless special effects exercise, where a simple old fashioned film & photo would have done the trick. Maybe they should stick their video screens in the invisible car, and make it disappear?
That said, despite the unfathomable plot (something to do with a ambitious villain masquerading as an eco-lobbyist, a political coup in southern America and a water shortage?), Daniel Craig is convincing as the cold hearted killer spy, but the writers have made the mistake of having Bond learn to love, and forgive. Bond does conflicted well in the books, but it's much harder to translate onto the screen. Eon should take heed from Seinfelds mantra 'No Lessons, No Hugs'. It's just not Bond.
Mathieu Almaric, so great in The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, brings a sleazy and creepy presence to his character, eco-shyster Dominic Greene, but he feels underused, and he never comes across as a great Bond-Baddie. We want cruel heartless killers, but he never seems to do anything too cruel, he just... talks about them? He has a henchman with comedy hairpiece fresh from Jim Carreys Dumb and Dumber trailer, but again, he never really comes across as menacing, or even that tough. I'm no fan of Jaws, but at least he appeared slightly scary. The henchman here just comes across as comic relief, not the personal bodyguard of the mastermind of a criminal empire.
The Bond girls are good though. The stunning Olga Kurylenko plays a conflicted and damaged Camille, who is also after Greene but for different reasons, and she forms an alliance with Bond once she realises they are both after the same thing. She is gorgeous and a great choice for a Bond girl. The equally stunning Gemma Arterton plays Agent Fields, a low ranking member of the Secret Service dispatched to bring Bond in once he's turned rogue. But this being Bond, she doesn't get much further than the bedroom, before Bond dispatches her with suave charm. Its a shame that it's such a slender role, as she brings innocent spunk and charm to a potentially throwaway Bond girl.
Judi Dench is great as usual, and her scenes with Daniel Craig are great. Her stern school matron M, is the perfect counterpoint to Craigs cocky self assured loose cannon, and their encounters bristle with electricity. Mathis returns, and its a welcome return, although he doesn't last long before he is brutally dispatched. Like Greene says "everything that Bond touches has a habit of withering and dying'.
There are some nice nods to the Bond legacy. His business card reads Universal Imports (fans of the books will get that one). Felix Leiter gets embroiled in the plot somehow, but he feels a little shoe-horned in. In Haiti we get a truck of coffins go by referencing Live and Let Die. So some nice touches for Bond fans.
Some of the the action set pieces are great, especially the plane dog fight, even though its resolution is a slightly creaky implausible climax. The film builds up great momentum, but ultimately the films climax sort of comes and goes with a fizzle rather than a bang. The plot feels like its leading to some big reveal that never comes. The villains demise (without spoiling too much) is rather lame and dissatisfying. And Bond learns to forgive and forget. And thats about it.
So in conclusion...
Its a disappointment of a movie i'm afraid after the brave new grounds broken in Casino Royale. Not as good as Casino Royale or Goldeneye, but definitely better than later Brosnan efforts. I'd like to see them take Bond to somewhere new next time, it doesn't need to be a continuation, thats the beauty of the franchise. Pitch him against an uber-villain, mano e mano, like Goldfinger or Scaramanga, lets have a battle of wits, not Bourne-lite.
3/5
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