I loved Casino Royale, as did many of us. It was the perfect rebooting of the Bond franchise, which was in dire need of improvement... OK, I must confess, Casino Royale was only the second Bond movie I had seen (the first was The World Was Not Enough, which I though was sh**). And thought not a big Bond fan, I balked when I heard of Craig getting the role of 007... but he has proven to be the Bond most likely to get close to Ian Fleming's description of someone 'with a ruthlessness in his eyes'.
But anyways, enough of Casino Royale... let us get back to the weirdly titled sequel (the first Bond sequel in the 22-film run), Quantum of Solace, which I am sure most of us who enjoyed Casino Royale, were looking forward to. However, a piece of trivia I heard said that if there is a good Bond movie, a bad one inevitably follows it. Sadly, that rule has held true in the case of Quantum...
It starts off promisingly, with 007 being chased down some Italian roads in his oh-so-cool Aston Martin DBS (which he doesn't roll off this time, unlike in Casino Royale)... being chased by 3 baddie cars (Alfa Romeo 159's)... Why? Well, as seen at the end of Casino Royale, 007 has captured the enigmatic Mr. White, and is probably being chased by his accomplices. The chase sequence lasts all of 3 minutes, but is beautifully shot, with fast action, and a lot of good driving. (Apparently, it was so tough, 3 stunt drivers were injured during the filming).
Of course, Bond manages to evade (and destroy) the baddies and takes the captured Mr. White to an MI-6 location in Siena, Italy. It is from that point forwards, post the opening credits, that Quantum... starts to fall apart, and bring back horrible memories of The World is Not Enough...
Well, where do I begin to explain the plot? It still doesn't quite make any sense to me... there is this evil organization quantum, whose members apparently have names ending with colours (Mr. White, Mr. Greene, and so forth). The main villain, Mr. Greene, is in charge of an organization which, on the face of it, buys up large tracts of land for ecological preserves (see? 'Greene' theme, as is the flavour in Global Warming season), but in reality, destabilizes the Governments in order to achieve its own aims (in this case, taking over the entire water supply of Bolivia by helping a deposed dictator come to power again).
In the meantime, of course, 007 has to chase him to some locations around the world, while being pursued by the CIA himself (who are in cohoots with green)... but I'm afraid I'm losing track of the article...
Bond, of course, is also in it for revenge, for the death of his lover Vesper Lynd, who he believed betrayed him. And here it is that we see the icy demeanor of Daniel Craig shine through, with a seriousness and darkness not seen in a Bond till date. Indeed, the whole movie is about revenge, with 007 trying to take down Quantum, which was responsible for Vesper's death, and the new Bond girl, Camille (played by Olga Kurylenko), who accompanies Bond because she also wants revenge on another individual who happens to be in cohoots with Quantum...
... in the end, they both do find revenge, but also a feeling of emptiness, which is exemplified by the line which Camille delivers to Bond at the end "I wish I could set you free."
I have not brought up Jason Bourne till now, but I would like to mention that the new Bond Movie follows the fast paced action of the Bourne films in many instances... not surprising, given that the members of the action team previously worked on the Bourne movies. This gives 007 a new, grittier level of action, which is good for the first half hour, but after that, degenerates into boredom later on.
The editing is too hyperactive and fast, like in the Bourne movies, and I found it especially difficult ot keep track of the boat chase sequence.
There is also a disappointing lack of Gadgets, Cars and Women in Quantum (pardon me if I sound sexist here), but those were aspects needed, according to the 'purists' in a Bond movie. I don't really agree with all the points, but yes, they were also lacking in Casino Royale, but were made up for with some good wit and drama (like the initial train dialogue between 007 and Vesper). Here, the lack of them shows up even further.
As far as performances go, Daniel Craig is amazing, as usual, and tries to carry the entire film on his shoulders... he does, up to a point, but then, the script fails him. Judi Dench as M is good, as usual, and the villain (Mr. Green; sorry, I don't remember the actors name), is an improvement over LeChiffre's character in Casino Royale. His wide, mad eyes are a stark contrast to Craig's blue icy-cool ones. Olga K is ok upto a point, but adds nothing spectacular. The characters of Rene Mathis and Felix Leiter (of the CIA) also make welcome appearances from Casino Royale, and add some much needed punch to the movie.
The worst part about Quantum, though, is that unless you have seen Casino Royale, you really can't appreciate this movie, and if you have seen Casino Royale, you would feel like seeing Quantum of Solace.
Overall, I didn't quite get the appeal of Quantum of Solace... it has a lot of action, but it is woven together in an incoherent storyline with less fun that Casino Royale... the pacing is too hectic and there isn't enough suaveness in the story...
It is then that I was almost expecting Daniel Craig to mouth out... the name's Bourne... Jason Bourne
