Quantum of Solace (Synopsis / Review)
(By Alex Gully – 7.11.08)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini and Judi Dench.
Running Time: 106 minutes.
Director: Marc Forster.
Writers: Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.
Released by: M.G.M – 31st October 2008.
Certificate: 12A.
BRIEF SYNOPSIS / REVIEW:
“I think that you’re so blinded by inconsolable rage that you don’t care who you hurt.”
‘M’ (Judi Dench).
Quantum of Solace, explodes onto the big-screen with James Bond, OO7 (Daniel Craig), still raging internally at the suicide – and betrayal -of former lover and double-agent, Vesper Lynd. Behind the wheel of a gadget-pimped, Aston Martin – in a high-octane, ‘seatbelts, please’ car chase across vertical-drop Italian cliffs – Bond gets straight down to business, followed furiously by agents in bullet-blasting Alfa Romeos.
This pulsating pursuit sets an early tone for the long awaited sequel to 2006’s Casino Royale, with the twenty-second instalment of cinema’s longest-running saga coming across, extremely well, as more a ‘Bond Re-Bourne’ than a ‘re-boot’, with the franchise welcoming ‘Bourne Trilogy’, ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Spiderman’ Stunt Co-coordinator/‘guru’ Dan Bradley to the ’00-family’.
To keep the story fresh in the mind, Quantum does its best to bring you up to speed, continuing – quite literally from the end of its smash-hit predecessor – with the Secret Agent cum modern anti-hero undertaking a mission (more personal than professional) to discover the organisation behind Vesper’s duplicity.
Ordered by ‘M’ (Judi Dench) to follow a trail to Haiti, Bond soon uncovers the ‘Quantum’ organisation: a secret establishment of powerbrokers bent on profiting from world politics, headed – and overshadowed – by the influential ‘environmentalist’ Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who, secretly, is set to support an exiled General’s political seize on Bolivia – for his own devices.
As his assignment – and the truth – unfolds, a ruthless Bond, leaving a trail of death and destruction wherever he seems to go, meets a beautiful, rogue Bolivian Agent, Camille (Olga Kurylenko), also on a personal revenge mission that will take her – and OO7 – to the very edge…..and a final ‘clear the air’ climax.
Though its story can be a little perplexing on occasion, Quantum of Solace takes the renegade duo (and its audience) – with the help of ‘Royale regulars’, the distrustful Mathias (Giancarlo Giannini) and C.I.A ally Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) – through various exotic locations, and numerous, fantastic over-the–top stunts, with even more explosions, breathtaking free-falls and ‘aerial dog-fights’ than ever before.
Directed by Marc Forster – the German film-maker behind successful dramas The Kite Runner (2007), Finding Neverland (2004) and Monster’s Ball (2001) – producers M.G.M must have been hoping that another franchise first-timer would bring subtle emotionality – and demons – to Bond’s character that would stand out amid the stunts. However, this is a Bond that rarely lets anyone in – or anything out – and, at present, fails to match the emotionality and intrigue of his American counterpart of same initials (Ahem).
Nevertheless, this Bond is certainly a Secret Agent for the ‘naughties’ (or is that ‘OO’s’? Ahem, ahem.), with audiences divided over the portrayal of an exteriorly gruff, cold and, perhaps disappointingly (?), un-emotional Bond. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that (like the 2005 origin-prequel ‘Batman Begins’, where the Bat ‘earns his wings!’), this is a pre ‘vodka-martini; shaken – not stirred’ Bond, before the ‘lips and quips’ come into action.
Usually a serious drama/theatre performer, Craig – and M.G.M, and their crews – must be given credit for the new interpretation of Bond (even if he does have blonde, spiky-hair and Sid James lines!), with older fans growing, again, with the character, and new fans supporting a British icon, equipped for the modern world, ready to defend ‘Queen and Country’…….and kick Bourne’s Box-Office butt!
An action-packed event that must be seen at the cinema!
RATING: ‘Quantum So-Ace!’ ‘Double O-Yes!!!’ (4 out of 5)
WATCH THIS IF YOU LIKED: Casino Royale (obviously!), The Bourne Trilogy, Mission ‘Impossibles’ (if you must?)
Reviewed by Alex Gully
7.11.08
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