Friday, November 9, 2012

Quantum of Solace



Runtime: 106 minutes

Directed by: Marc Foster

Starring: Daniel Craig, Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Giancarlo Gianni

From: MGM/Columbia

Yep, I saw this for the first time in 4 years (as I mentioned the last time) and at the time I really did not care for the film. It did not compare to Casino Royale, for sure. I figured I should watch it again and give it another go even if I understand you don't need to have this memorized before you check out Skyfall.

The plot: Despite him saying no, 007 is looking for revenge against those who killed his lady Vesper Lynd. He finds out more about the mysterious Quantum organization as he learns about a Eurodouche (the best term for him) known as Mr. Greene who is buying land in Bolivia that appears to be worthless. Bond also meets up with a Russian lady who has an agenda of her own.

Turns out, my opinion of the movie hasn't changed too much from seeing it in November of 2008. The biggest thing which hurts it is that there was the writer's strike which happened right as they turned in the first draft of this script, so of course they couldn't do further drafts as they always do to improve it. It really shows. The story I just don't really care for. The childish feuding between 007 and M, the story being so slight and not really advancing what was presented in Casino Royale, a character being named Strawberry Fields but she's only ID'ed in the film was “Fields”, she wears a trenchcoat for a few minutes as if she was a flasher, her death is a lame version of one of the most famous deaths in the entire Bond franchise... yet on rewatch I thought the first half of the film wasn't that bad, despite the problems and Mr. Greene being a limp and weak villain. But in the second half-when they get to Bolivia-there's just so much stupid it disintegrates like that plane Bond and Camille jump from and they open a parachute 100 feet from the ground but they end up uninjured when they should have been killed instantly... and let's not even talk of the finale with the luxury hotel being built in the middle of nowhere in the desert. That was really bad all around. But, it turns out that the now-famous Stana Katic is the girl in the final scene where Bond gets revenge on a certain guy.

Then, there's the action scenes. There are cool things done, but it's hard to make out as it was filmed with the “hip” and “cool” style of it being both shaky-cam and way too quick editing, making it really hard to enjoy and watch. I really hope that trend dies soon. It ruined things here.

So, with the crap story and the badly filmed action scenes, the movie still isn't any good in 2012. And speaking of no good, the opening credits song from Jack White and Alicia Keys... I've never thought that Jack White was any good and he did not change my opinion of him with that garbage tune. Thankfully Skyfall sounds much better. I'll be back Sunday night to talk about that motion picture.

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