Quantum of Solace is an hour and a half epilogue to Casino Royale, filled with every chase scene imaginable, including boats, planes, cars, feet, and a little moped. Between the chases is a story of revenge, international conspiracy, and piles of dead bodies. If you haven’t seen Casino Royale, you will most likely be lost during Quantum, and that has to be the first time that’s ever happened in a Bond movie. Usually you can jump in, enjoy the espionage and explosions, stare at the pretty ladies, and be on your way. It makes for a great bookend to Royale, but comes up just short of being an outright success as a sequel.

As a whole, Quantum accomplishes the impossible task of feeling both small scale and epic. The conspiracy Bond uncovers is grand in scale; An unknown organization (Quantum) with ties to everyone, even M’s long-time bodyguard, is stealing water and creating droughts for their own profit. They’re able to overthrow governments and still have time to all attend the Opera. It opens up the Bond world immeasurably, and also makes Bond that much cooler for uncovering it. At the same time, this is very much the story of James Bond dealing with grief and betrayal the only way he knows how. That’s the most important arc of this movie and it sometimes gets lots in the non-stop action. There’s little time to take a breathe. I’m not going to complain about non-stop action though, because the plane sequence and exploding hotel are pretty fantastic.

Hit the lame jump to read the rest of the review.

The other interesting thing explored in this movie is the fact that everyone around Bond keeps getting killed as a result of his actions. He beds Fields, then brings her to a party. Her reward? A crude oil bath. He brings his old friend Mathis along for an adventure, and Mathis ends up hanging out in a dumpster. Even M faces gunfire in this movie! Daniel Craig smolders his way through scenes, clearly driven by revenge, even as he uncovers this larger plot. He’s almost casual about sending information to M, as if it’s a distraction to him that this giant, unknown organization is slowing him down.

By the end of this movie, it’s clear Bond has changed, come to terms with Vesper’s death, and is ready to start becoming the suave agent we all know and love. This movie seems like a bridge to a bigger world rather than a huge leap forward in the Bond universe, like Casino Royale. Like I said in Sticky Floor Friday, expectations were extremely high. He’s basically looking for closure from the last movie, and I think that’s where the “small-scale” feeling comes from. But don’t be fooled; Daniel Craig continues to be all sorts of awesome as James Bond, the action sequences are top-notch, the girls are beautiful, and the villain is eeevil. What more could you ask for from a Bond movie?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 11:05 am and is filed under Film, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.