Quantum of Solace review

So, I didn't get the Star Trek or Watchmen trailers I was promised; but was the movie good enough for that to not even matter? Well, you'll just have to read the rest of the review to find out.

First things first, Quantum of Solace is the twenty-second James Bond film, and the second to feature Daniel Craig as Bond. It should also be noted that Quantum is a direct sequel to 2006's Casino Royale, making it the first direct sequel in the James Bond film history. This fact also makes it slightly harder to follow for anyone that hasn't seen Casino Royale, and/or just doesn't remember a lot of it in the two year gap.

The film opens up with what seems to be a sequence that takes place maybe 30 minutes after the end of Casino Royale. Which just makes me remind you again, if you haven't seen Casino Royale, or don't remember it, watch it again because you will be slightly confused otherwise. As for the story, without me giving any major spoilers, Bond is still vengeful after Vesper Lynd's death and he will do whatever it takes to get his revenge. Along the way he gets tied up with another typical Bond enemy, "the evil rich guy who wants control", and the story ensues.

As for the film's title, well ... Quantum, an organization that has more relevance than previously thought, ends up only having it's name mentioned a couple times. Taking in account that while the movie is named after Ian Flemming's short story, Quantum of Solace, the book and the film have no relations. I assume naming the organization was just the creative team's way of saying, "It's not just a name we like, see? They said it in the film a couple times ..." It's nothing major, but I had found the naming of the film odd, so I guess I received the only answer I was gonna get.

Film-wise, it wasn't bad, but it also wasn't spectacular. It really just felt like another Bond film, and chances are won't be the one you'll be remember five, ten year from now. Not that it shares the qualities of a typical Bond film; there is no gun-barrel sequence in the opening, there seems to be more action then there is plot, and there's a definite lack of charm. Despite these differences, it's not a bad film, as stated, it just didn't have those special, memorable moments that Bond movies seem to have. I also felt the camera to be a bit too shaky to really enjoy the film, with my favorite parts only happening when it finally stood still for a short moment. And other than Daniel Craig continuing to be a brooding, tougher Bond, no supporting cast members really seemed to stand out. Even Quantum's 'Bond-girl', Camille Montes (played by Olga Kurylenko), seems to lack any prominence in the film despite supposedly being important. And while this may be off topic, did I mention I wasn't a fan of the film's song?

You probably are getting a bad vibe from this review, I know, but overall its not a bad film. It's just, in a way, different. I will say though, there's something to be had, especially if you can catch onto the story. But as a fan of the Bond franchise, and especially Casino Royale, I felt a bit disappointed to see Quantum of Solace fall flat like it did. It's not that it's terrible film, it's not, but after the last film I guess I was just expecting to be blown away, and I wasn't. Or maybe I'm just grumpy because I didn't get to see the trailers, the guess is yours.

Overall score - 8/10

Another Way To Die

Here it is, the 22nd James Bond theme; "Another Way To Die" by both Jack White and Alicia Keys will be the opening theme to Quantum of Solace. This is the first duet for a James Bond theme, and as can recall, it is the 3rd film not to be named after the film or contain its name in the lyrics. Basically it's following Casino Royale by having American artists, as well as not mentioning the film.

Personally, I think the Chris Cornell track, "You Know My Name", was a much better song than "Another Way To Die". This new track sounds like a Bond song at first, which is promising, but then it just sort of drops. Originally, Amy Whinehouse was selected to do the film's theme, but then she went to rehab, and that's the end of that story. I would have liked that they picked an English band or musician to do the theme, because lately they seem to lack any British influence; Whinehouse was a step in right direction, but maybe someone more stable next time?

You can check out the song for yourself, here, if you don't feel like being surprised when the movie releases this November.

Note: The site seems to take a bit to load, probably due to high traffic.

Quantum of Solace trailer

Here you go, the first trailer (as far as I know) for the twenty second official James Bond 007 film, Quantum of Solace. This is the first Bond film to be a true sequal to the previous film, as this takes place minutes after 2006's Casino Royale.



You'd be surprised how hard it is to find an embeddable, official version of this trailer, so I'm using the one from our friends at Reelz Channel. Anyways, I think it's coming along fairly well, Casino Royale was definitely my favorite Bond film, especially after Pierce Brosnan's run, so if this sticks to that style I'm sure it'll be good. The one thing I did notice is that there's a lot more futuristic technology going on here, hopefully it's not too much to take away from the film. I also noticed a lack of British accents ... what gives?

UPDATE: Turns out I was wrong, the above video is actually the first trailer. However, the trailer I was looking for is currently only available at Yahoo! It contains the same scenes, but there's a minute more of footage. See it here!