Quantum of Solace: More like Quantum of SOREASS, amirite?

[seriousfic]

So, Quantum of Solace. Probably the most anticipated Bond of the modern era. After a string of mediocre Brosnan films (good Bond, bad scripts), Martin Campbell knocked one out of the ballpark with Casino Royale. The producers took a lot of risks, from rebooting the series all the way down to Bond’s hair color, but it paid off and gave us something new (Dalton: Yeahbutwhat?) after years of formula. Ending on the sorta cliffhanger of James fully becoming Bond, audiences couldn’t wait to see what happened next. With a huge budget and star Daniel Craig taking a hand in realizing his vision of Bond, what could go wrong?



Well, for starters, they put that mega-budget in the hands of someone who had never directed action before. Not a once. And you get exactly what you think you’d get if someone who thought they were better than action did action: when the results aren’t inept, they’re laughably pretentious. A foot chase is spliced with footage of a horse race for no reason other than to metaphor that Bond is going fast. A gun battle features more opera than bullets. I’d like to say that at least the drama is good, but it would take a heart of stone not to laugh when, after a beloved ally dies, Bond throws the body in the trash and rifles through his wallet. The title ‘Quantum of Solace’ ends up being emblematic of the movie as a whole… plowing straight past human-interest territory and into downright sophism.

Another area the movie fails is in the evil scheme. In Casino Royale, Le Chiffre’s plot was to recoup from stock market shenanigans by winning a poker game. That’s a pretty lame plan, but at least the movie’s upfront about it so you can move on. QoS treats the evil scheme as a big mystery, then Bond literally stumbles across the least dramatic reveal ever, and in the end it turns out all his adventure’s accomplished is save the Bolivian government some money on its utility bill. I’m dead serious here.

(I know, I know, he stops a coup, but that’s really just a side effect of the villain’s plan and if the movie doesn’t care about it, why should we? Plus, we’re really never given any indication that the current ruler of Bolivia is any better than the ousted dictator trying to regain power. Sure, he may be a psycho rapist, but he could really be able to balance a budget.)

It’s the least interesting cross between realism and high-stakes Bond movie you could imagine, with a hotel in the middle of the desert being a particularly poor substitute for Blofeld’s volcano lair. An exchange about highly unstable fuel cells is right out of the fucking Roger Moore era.

I remember speculating that the only way to really respect Vesper’s impact on James, especially in a movie that picks up five minutes after Casino Royale, would be for him not to get the girl. Well, he doesn’t, but they botch that twice over.

First, there’s this female agent who only exists for Bond to bed, then they kill her so Bond’s motivated to take revenge. Hmm, where have I seen that before? Oh yes, the entire last movie. It’s a shame, because she has more chemistry with Craig than the PC ‘this time he’s met his match’ blah blah dismissive wanking motion. Nothing wrong with Camille, but every Bond since Moore has had a ‘look, we’re not sexist!’ Bond girl and, honestly, the meaty role Judi Dench has is much more feminist than a spy who’s willing to sleep with people to get what she wants (hey, just like Bond!).

And second, a Bond girl arbitrarily not sleeping with Bond instead of arbitrarily sleeping with him is just subverting a trope, one that works no less, for no reason.

In fact, everything to do with Vesper is given painfully short shift. I know she’s the elephant in the corner, but she practically has a cloaking device. The main villain didn’t even have anything to do with her death. Good revenge movie.

There’s also a lot of moments where the movie tries to have its cake and eat it too, watering down the Bond movie coolness with Jason Bourne stupidity (sorry, Matt Damon, but someone has to speak up to your shakycam idiocy) like with the evil scheme that is simultaneously undramatically low-key and pulpily unrealistic. They play Bond not killing the villain as this big moment of character development, then he just grills the bad guy for information and kills him later. Delayed gratification? That’s the big lesson? What is this, Veggie Tales? Or how the movie suggests Bond really has gone psycho by having him accidentally kill a British agent, but he really just wounds the guy and gets coincidentally framed for killing him, which he doesn’t deny for some reason. You can smell the rewrite.

I know I’m making it sound like I hate QoS and I don’t, but I hate it for not being what it could’ve been, for being lazy and riding on the coattails of Casino Royale. There are moments where you’re watching a Bond movie, damnit, like when Bond crashes a clandestine meet and outs key members of SPECTRE Quantum, but they’re few and far between.

I suppose we all should’ve seen it coming. There’s a reason why the big death/kidnapping to motivate the hero to say “this time it’s personal!” and go after the bad guy full-tilt usually happens at the end of the second act. A third act of the hero in a vendetta kind of mood is badass. An entire movie of it is tiring and oddly charmless, like you’re visiting some alternate universe where Jason Bourne is British and played by Daniel Craig. There, I said it. James Bond is ripping off Jason Bourne. There, are you happy?

Comments

[ky02121.livejournal.com]

I started watching it online and didn't bother to finish it.It was like the director was on speed on something. You couldn't focus on what the Hell was going on. Can you tell me where that 200 million dollars went? There's no excuse for a film like this to cost that much. They could of made 2 with all that $$$.

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

If this were a Roger Moore movie, that money would at least get you a 10:1 scale model space station and a flying car that could actually fly. Here it just got you the chick from Hitman and this guy. For two hundred mil, the villain should have Will Smith popping up to say "aw hell nah!" every time he planned to do something mean.

[buggerfck.livejournal.com]

I actually really like QoS, but that's probably because I kind of despise all of the Bond movies before Casino Royale. I'm not a huge fan of mindless action scenes that are meant only to thrill, so I enjoyed the way Marc Forster made the action scenes a little more intellectual. Pretentious, maybe, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that. :\

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

so I enjoyed the way Marc Forster made the action scenes a little more intellectual. Pretentious, maybe, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that. :\

The same thing that's wrong with a sex scene that isn't titillating, or a slapstick routine that isn't funny. The action scenes in Casino Royale were plenty thrilling, and they didn't cut away to... CGI prairie dogs every five seconds. (Hmm... this problem might go deeper than pretentious auteurs.)

[mightbefound.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed QoS, actually perhaps more than CR, I have to admit. Because I didn't think that this was a straight-up revenge movie. It started off as that, sure, but I do feel like it evolved into a little something more.

However, I do agree that it was flawed (hello, Bond NOT disputing that he killed a fellow agent when he for once actually didn't), it definitely could have been better. And agreed, hands down the best scene is when he crashes the Quantum meeting at the opera. That was brilliant.

I think the next movie--assuming they get a more experienced director--could be really good. And I also hope they play up the Quantum theme over the next few installments; instead of seeing a bunch of standalone films, it would be nice to see the Bond movie having a common thread linking them.

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed QoS, actually perhaps more than CR, I have to admit. Because I didn't think that this was a straight-up revenge movie. It started off as that, sure, but I do feel like it evolved into a little something more.

Actually, the notion of Bond seeking revenge by maturing into a spy instead is a great one, and a refreshing change for a franchise that has already done Bond-on-vendetta numerous times (and really, it's hard to top License to Kill). It's just that it was handled so... obliquely. The opera should've been when things kicked into high gear, and instead we got this... inscrutable political satire of sorts. As if anyone goes to see a Bond movie for commentary on American foreign policy in South America.

[mightbefound.livejournal.com]

True. I do feel the movie would have been better without all the lines between Felix and James about who's the good/bad guy. The M scene with the Defense (I think) Minister would have been enough. It would have been better if the movie had continued on the "James' walkabout" theme--it had it in the first half, then got utterly derailed, and that what was weird about it.

I THINK it was an attempt to update "evil"--cloaking it in the modern business world, shady deals with dictators, etc.--that just got a little too muddled and preachy. That theme STILL could have been okay if it hadn't gotten so...self-righteous.

Like I said, QoS definitely had its flaws/could have been better. But somehow it was still more interesting to me than CR, just because you KNEW Vesper was going to die there. And now I'm really interested to see James take Quantum on in future movies.

[i-strannik.livejournal.com]

The movie was terrible. Brosnan could make those terrible scripts shine. This was just nonsense... The camera crew, were they sober?

[greeniefru.livejournal.com]

Fantastic review. I agree with pretty much everything you wrote.

This film left be cold. The plot was a non-starter, the villain was completely forgettable, and the Bond girl was really a Bond girl in name only. And then there was the direction... I've quite enjoyed Forster's other films, namely, Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland but what bright spark thought he would be a good choice to direct this?

One of the most disappointing films of the year.

[rann.livejournal.com]

Are you having, like, back pain or something? I dunno, just seems like you've been extra bitchy and unpleasable lately. You sound kind of like a TWOP reviewer assigned to a show that doesn't regard Republicans as the greatest threat to humanity next to food that tastes good.

[museofspeed.livejournal.com]

It actually took me a few minutes to realize the movie wasn't just a really sucky commercial.

And there were no gadgets! WHAT IS WITH THIS NEW TREND OF USING CELLPHONES INSTEAD OF GADGETS? I don't approve.

[invicta-affect.livejournal.com]

I think what you've written here accurately describes how I've kind of felt about the movie, but I have been unwilling to admit it to myself.

I love of Casino Royale with all my heart - there is so much about that movie that is good, and so I was expecting something on the same level from QOS. And I think I was more than slightly disappointed.

I totally agree with the anaogy of the alternative universe!Jason Bourne. I'm sure on the surface the idea to hire the guy from the Bourne films as the 2nd unit director (or whatever he was) was a good idea, but it really did make it just feel like a Bourne film.

And the action annoyed me - it wasn't awe inspiring like it was in CR, and there was too much of it. My friends and I decided that if you took out the action, you'd have a ten minute movie.

Which was something else that pissed me off - how short it was. They could have expanded on so many things, like Bond's discussion with Vesper's previous boyfriend, but they didn't.

Anyway. Admittedly, there were a few good things about it - Bond's relationship with M for one, but even that we've seen before.

I think I was just mightily disappointed.

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed QoS because Daniel Craig *is* Bond. That's it. Shit direction, st00pid story, bastard awful camera, desperately unconvincing action.

and none of it matters a jot because Craig works and the chemistry with ever-reliable Dench is superb.

in saying that, I hope to hell and back that the third film slaps down the multitude of flaws and hires decent people to, y'know, make the damned thing.

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

Whenever Craig and Dench are on-screen, the movie is far better than it has any right to be. Then it goes back to Bond trying to stop Ra's Al Ghul from blowing up the water mains or whatever the hell's happening in all those shakycam scenes and I'm like "hey, I was watching that!"

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

Ra's Al Ghul was Batman, dude.

is ok, I enjoyed them too :-)

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

Right, QoS was where Bond was trying to avenge the death of Marie and stop Treadstone.

Off topic proposition

[cinemark.livejournal.com]

Hi there,

I have been reading your reviews on the moviebuffs group for some time and really like your analytical approach to the films you review. I run a movie review website which has recently suffered from an exodus of reviewers due to various reasons and I wanted to offer you an additional outlet for your reviews. Check it out at http://www.thoughtsonfilm.com and email me at thoughtsonfilm at gmail dot com should you have an interest in contributing. Hope to hear from you soon.

Mark Moreland
Managing Editor, Thoughtsonfilm.com

[ladylavinia.livejournal.com]

"Oh yes, the entire last movie. It’s a shame, because she has more chemistry with Craig than the PC ‘this time he’s met his match’ blah blah dismissive wanking motion."


Oh God. You're not one of those who have a problem with a Bond leading lady being an action character, are you? God, I hope not.


Also, why does everyone categorizes all of the Roger Moore movies as some over-the-top fantasy adventure?

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

No, but it's just been done and yet everyone talks about it like she's the first companion to do more than scream for the Doctor to help her. If there's an interesting direction to take the character, than fine, but this kneejerk political correctness is just tedious.

Her being more of a foil for Bond than a love interest is good, only all the movie does with it is have Bond tell her how to shoot people. Why not have him have to deny her revenge so he can get his man, something dramatic?. But at least she's not Jinx.

Also, why does everyone categorizes all of the Roger Moore movies as some over-the-top fantasy adventure?

Probably because he's the only Bond to shoot people with lasers in outer space.

[colonel-green.livejournal.com]

"Casino Royale" really blew people away by doing a more character-based approach and stripping away some of the fat, but the problem I had with "Quantum of Solace", apart from many of the things already mentioned, is how it continues to shy away from the aspects of Bond that have made him so popular, while not bringing in anything as interesting. It's way too generic.

Also, Wai-Lin in "Tomorrow Never Dies" is the perfect action-Bond girl.

[prelud.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed it, but only because of Daniel Craig. If Craig wasn`t in it (ok, and and Judi Dench and Mathieu Amalric, who was quite excellent as the poorly written villain, that man can act), I would hate it. But I`m not a true Bond fan - I saw very few bonds from pre-Brosnan era and I hate Connery. I guess I`m just a Craig fangirl, so I shouldn`t comment on Bond.