Quantum of Solace

This movie made me: Moderately Excited

“Bond is running wild.” These four words, spoken midway through Quantum of Solace, perfectly describe the 22nd Bond adventure. Daniel Craig continues to reinvent Bond in new and thrilling ways, even if the film can’t keep up with him. Filled with frenetic action but not much else, Quantum of Solace is far from the greatest Bond adventure. But fans have suffered through much worse.

The action picks up only minutes after the conclusion of Casino Royale. In his effort to seek revenge against those responsible for the death of his love Vesper, Bond begins to uncover information about Quantum – a group so secret no one knows about it. His leads send him around the world and eventually into the presence of Dominic Greene (Matthieu Amalric), one of those sinister businessmen seeking to control the world. Bond soon crosses paths with Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a brazen beauty with her own revenge mission. It’s all very Licence to Kill, but leaner, meaner and without the Wayne Newton cameo.

Craig’s Bond has never been so determined, vicious and downright frightening – just as he should be. Anyone who still doubts him as Bond is in severe denial. But it suffers from the second-movie syndrome. At the film’s conclusion, there are more questions than answers – Quantum is just a name and a few faces. Instead we watch Bond tracking a Peter Lorre-esque middle man the entire time – the type of figure that would get killed off halfway through a typical Bond picture.

But it’s not that important, since what director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Stranger Than Fiction) clearly wants us to notice how cool the actions scenes are. And there are plenty of them: Bond gets chased in a car, in a boat, on foot, in a plane, etc. Sometimes, he even does the chasing! The first meeting between hero and villain at an outdoor may is the most artistically ambitious set piece in the series. And the (literally) explosive finale in a desert hotel showcases some of the coolest Bond sets in 40 years.

Instead of concocting a two-hour romance between Bond and Kurylenko’s Camille, the filmmakers pair them as something much more complex and rewarding – two desperate people after the same thing. They are able to relate to each other because of the tragedies they’ve faced – they are the ideal match for each other. When Bond and Camille, dirty and exhausted, walk in silence through the Bolivian desert, they are united in their loneliness.

In the years to come, Quantum of Solace will probably be come to known as the arty James Bond movie. Director Forster adds a lot of little moments into the film – fancy fonts, soundless montages, etc. – that are interesting, but only occasionally succeed. Bond is still on a mission that will presumably be continued in the next film. But as far as 106 minute long set-ups go, this ain’t too bad.