Movie Review: Quantum of Solace

I remember when James Bond movies were fun. I’d have a regular date with my sister to get our latest fix of campy humor and cool gadgets and gorgeous women with humorously suggestive names. Of late, we don’t get to continue that tradition—my sister and I now live more than a thousand miles apart. We do agree though that the Bond fun is gone.

Quantum of Solace stars Daniel Craig as Bond and his take is far removed from Bonds past. He’s all muscular and scarred and rough around the edges. He is non-verbal with squinting, intense eyes. And he is utterly devoid of charm. His Bond frankly reminds me uncomfortably of Vin Diesel.

What are the filmmakers thinking? The allure of Bond isn’t slam-bang action star. It is suave sophistication mixed with self-deprecating humor. Take a look at photos of Ian Fleming. That’s what I’m talking about. The Bourne movies – while not without their pleasures – have done irreparable damage to action cinema. Their fast cutting and nervous cameras created an aesthetic based solely on velocity, on always racing forward at all cost.

Unfortunately, this can lead in less skilled hands to a lot of stuff happening really quickly without leaving much of an impression, or making much sense. Quantum devolves into nothing more than a bunch of shots of this and that crashing into that and this, the chases and stunts actually committing the cardinal sin of being boring.

And what’s a Bond film without beautiful women? Certainly not a Bond film I’d wish to see. And Quantum does have its beautiful women, two to be exact. But, other than burn scars on one woman’s back, accentuated by low-cut garments, these women are as bland as models on the cover of a magazine. They’re pretty, but we don’t give them so much as a passing thought – and, oddly, neither does Bond. Apparently, they don’t excite him much either.

Quantum has some knockout sequences. There is a well executed cat and mouse staged amidst the performance of an opera that’s both stirring and suspenseful. It made me long for another good aria, perhaps at the Met. There is a villainous stronghold that architecturally reminded me of a high-tech Hobbit hole. Also memorable is an agonizing situation in the desert, involving a can of oil.

But where are all the fun lines such as, “You like close shaves, don’t you?” Where are the cool weapons like shoes that sprout spikes and killer flying hats? Or where are the fun names like Oddjob and Pussy Galore? (Well, I guess Quantum does have Strawberry Fields, but didn’t the Beatles think of that first?) The filmmakers have left those things out as if they don’t matter. Foolish I say.

It just occurred to me to end with this tidbit: I prefer the old Batman television series to the dark, somber, and super-serious recent movies with Christian Bale. My favorite Star Trek series has William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. If you aren’t a sentimental old fogy like me, maybe Daniel Craig is your Bond. Personally, I’ll stick with Roger Moore and Sean Connery and even George Lazenby.

Article Author: Todd Ford

Todd is an avid film buff, web developer, and passionate enthusiast of competitive swimming. He shares his living space with his wife, two daughters, six cats and two dogs. He is also involved with a local film society in Bismarck, ND as a critic, board member, web master, and film selector. …

Visit Todd Ford's author page — Todd Ford's Blog