Leon and his Demons: marc forster

Monday, November 17, 2008

Quantum of Solace Review

Quantum of Solace is the first direct Bond sequel,the sequel to the amazing Casino Royale,which set the bar high for the future movies in the series.So,does it meet expectations?Does James Bond find his quantum of solace?

The filmakers said from the start,that they wanted to make a different movie from Casino Royale.And surely that's the case here.And while the spirit of the new series is here,the movie has more in common with previous Bond films than Casino Royale had.There are more action scenes,there is more spectacle.But the action scenes are more stylised and the selection of the locations where they take place is not random.There's a symbolism.There's a symbolism in other scenes of the movie.The artistic influences are evident.For example,the scene at the opera in Austria is memorable.

The influence of the director in the style of the movie is evident and so is the influence of the Bourne Trilogy (something that started in Casino Royale).The second unit director,Dan Bradley,also worked in the Bourne movies.All these elements are part of the reboot of the series.

James Bond claims that he does not care about the death of Vesper Lynd,that she betrayed him,that he does not want revenge.However,that's obviously not true.The impact of her death on him is severe.And the fact that Quantum's men almost killed M,gives him one more motive to search for answers.To some level,he experiences an existential crisis:everyone that has contact with him,dies?Eventually,he goes rogue.M while she's concerned about him,she still trusts him.In his journey to salvation,he's accompanied by Camille Rivera,whose past is haunting her and wants to take revenge.Their goals meet and while there's not the same connection that James Bond and Vesper Lynd had,there's an understanding,there are shared emotions.

Daniel Craig is once again very good as James Bond.Olga Kurylenko gives a solid perfomance,probably her best perfomance,judging from the movies i've seen (Max Payne,Hitman,Le Serpent).The villain or to be exact the perfomance of M.Amalric is relatively weak.

QOS takes some time to gear up and that happens mostly in the second half.Despite its flaws,it's a successful conclusion to the story arc set up in Casino Royale and so the next movie will probably be a stand-alone one.
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