Sunday, November 23, 2008

Quantum of Solace or How Craig's 007 is smouldering

Quantum of Solace
Directed by Marc Foster
Written by Robert Wade, Neil Purvis & Paul Haggis
Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Almaric, Jeffrey Wright.

As a follow up to the über successful Casino Royale, the newest James Bond film delivers. What does it deliver you ask? What a good Daniel Craig Bond film should: great chase sequences (in planes, boats and cars!), perfectly choreographed fights (that rope scene is kind of amazing in its craziness), a no-nonsense Bond, an irked and witty M, hot girls whom Bond beds and a lot of 'blowing up' scenes. Oh? Did you want the line "Bond, James Bond"? Bond ordering a Martini to precise (if ridiculous) orders? Fancy gadgets and a suave demeanor that never once disrupts Bond's crisp tux? Yeah... you should probably Netflix those. This Bond is not your father's Bond and thank god! Sure, it's Bond meets Bourne, but is that a bad thing? Quantum is an enjoyable thrill ride that kept a smirk on my face all the time and never once did it have me jonesing for an 'old school' Bond moment. I do wish Almaric had had more to play with than the latent homophobic 'effete=villain' role, and do look forward to a time when action movies won't lecture me on 'green issues' while depicting South America as only politically unstable and relentlessly poor region (though kudos for the anti-American feelings, foreign-policy wise), but remember: things blow up and we do see Daniel shirtless, so I was game. B+

1 comment:

POP COLONY said...

"latent homophobic 'effete=villain' role"---> Manuel, You're Reaching! It's called being French!!! You really shouldn't hold that against his characterization. ;) Though you're dead-on about Dame Judi. She makes CHICOS look fierce!