Spring Break
Quantum of Solace just a bit of comfort for Bond
Issue date: 11/20/08
In his tramplings Bond discovers a multifarious conspiracy focused on a political environmental scam masterminded by Dominic Greene (The French actor Mathieu Amalric). The plot implicates the public water supply and government of Bolivia and means to install one full-bellied cigar-smoking General Medrano through a coup d'etat. It's not very interesting and doesn't really bring the Quantum organization to any territory we haven't seen from Bond villains.
Dominic Greene is a rather normal (read: "realistic") looking French affluent whose intentions are clear but not threatening, until he swings an axe at 007 and chimp-howls. The plot can indeed be confusing, not because of a single detail but more by the film's unwillingness to furnish an adequate plot. Presumably, this Bolivian thing is small potatoes in the grand Quantum scheme. But since the film never reveals much about Quantum apart from its omnipresence, we have little else to work with.
The result is a sense that the film never gets going, which is odd, because, again, it seems to be hurtling mach three in large part. Bond covers three different countries in about 20 minutes. Things slow down for emotional scenes with the newest Bond girl, Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko). She's a looker. She has a turbulent past. She wants General Medrano dead because apparently he's in the habit of murdering families in person and leaving young girls to grow into their vendettas. Okay.
If you buy it, you buy it, and if you don't, watch the fires ramble on. This movie has no shortage of action or carnage or proof of its Cleopatraesque budget ($250 million, for the curious). It has few failing marks as an action movie. But are we talking about pre-Casino Bond or post? Isn't this the brooding man's Bond? There's an inner conflict at work here, and it's something future directors will have to figure out. The potential is there - Craig has the ability for emotional and explosive 007 range.
We're in a new set of movies now, and apparently Quantum of Solace is that odd middling child, one that at a gaunt 104 minutes, doesn't think it owes much more than a few gun fights, a couple loose plot mentions and grim stares. But this isn't the case. It's the second film in a continuity, rich with promise. Why lapse, James? And what's with that cocktail with six orange peels in it?
Dominic Greene is a rather normal (read: "realistic") looking French affluent whose intentions are clear but not threatening, until he swings an axe at 007 and chimp-howls. The plot can indeed be confusing, not because of a single detail but more by the film's unwillingness to furnish an adequate plot. Presumably, this Bolivian thing is small potatoes in the grand Quantum scheme. But since the film never reveals much about Quantum apart from its omnipresence, we have little else to work with.
The result is a sense that the film never gets going, which is odd, because, again, it seems to be hurtling mach three in large part. Bond covers three different countries in about 20 minutes. Things slow down for emotional scenes with the newest Bond girl, Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko). She's a looker. She has a turbulent past. She wants General Medrano dead because apparently he's in the habit of murdering families in person and leaving young girls to grow into their vendettas. Okay.
If you buy it, you buy it, and if you don't, watch the fires ramble on. This movie has no shortage of action or carnage or proof of its Cleopatraesque budget ($250 million, for the curious). It has few failing marks as an action movie. But are we talking about pre-Casino Bond or post? Isn't this the brooding man's Bond? There's an inner conflict at work here, and it's something future directors will have to figure out. The potential is there - Craig has the ability for emotional and explosive 007 range.
We're in a new set of movies now, and apparently Quantum of Solace is that odd middling child, one that at a gaunt 104 minutes, doesn't think it owes much more than a few gun fights, a couple loose plot mentions and grim stares. But this isn't the case. It's the second film in a continuity, rich with promise. Why lapse, James? And what's with that cocktail with six orange peels in it?
Be the first to comment on this story