Quantum of Solace

I was a little leery about this latest installment in the Bond franchise.  I jumped on the Daniel Craig bandwagon (along with everyone else) after seeing Casino Royale, his first foray into portraying this iconic character.  Royale was enthralling, and I still absolutely love the scene in which Bond is poisoned and actually dies.  He dies!  Of course, it’s only temporary, and Craig signed on for this follow up, Quantum of Solace (I love the name).  Solace was going to have much more action, all the articles said so, and I have an automatic shut off switch when it comes to car chases, foot chases, shoot outs, and any type of battle scene.  So, sure, I was leery.

I loved it.  The story was sharp and moved quickly.  It picks up right where Casino Royale left off, with Bond on a mission to get revenge for the death of the woman he loved.  We jump in with him in pursuit of a secretive organization called QUANTUM, and chasing after …. (played by Mathieu Amalric, who starred in the amazing The Diving Bell and The Butterfly).  The dialogue is clever and biting, and Judi Dench is a riot, reprising her role as M.  The one complaint that I have is the style in which it was shot.  I complained about this back in my Bourne Ultimatum review (which I know all of you faithful readers have read) about the fight scenes and chase scenes that employed the “shaky camera” technique.  This is probably more realistic, and captures the frenetic nature of what is happening, but that doesn’t matter if I can’t tell what is happening.  Who is chasing who?  Who was just hit in the head by a piece of collapsing ceiling?  I couldn’t tell, and that takes the fun out of it for me.

All in all, this is completely worth seeing (for the two of you who haven’t by now, this isn’t a very timely review).  Its fun and its action packed and Daniel Craig is so very much fun to look at.  This makes it a great date movie, action sequences for the guys and Daniel Craig for the ladies.

Rating:  

Previews I Liked:

Star Trek
Yes Man
Nothing Like the Holidays
Angels and Demons
Seven Pounds