QUANTUM OF SOLACE FilmEdge.net's QUANTUM DATA reviews the new Bond adventure starring Daniel Craig in this complex follow-up to CASINO ROYALE

Review by Scott Weitz

(3 1/2 stars)

November 14, 2008

With a tough act to follow after the highly praised and profitable 2005 reboot mission CASINO ROYALE, Daniel Craig returns with an even harder edge and a taste for vengeance in QUANTUM OF SOLACE, opening wide in U.S. theaters today.   Director Marc Forster takes a definite stylistic step away from the previous 007 film, and the results are decidedly mixed as QUANTUM delivers the action goods but never quite connects emotionally with the audience.  Bond's quest for retribution becomes a bit too entangled in the mysterious plots of his new adversaries for the film's good.   As Bond pursues those responsible for his girlfriend's death, he uncovers a hidden network of double-dealing agents and betrayers who endanger every MI6 operation around the world.  In a game of lies, James Bond must pay the price to learn who can and cannot be trusted, and similarly one can't help but feel director Forster should have trusted this story to unfold without so many artificial cinematic stimulants.

From the opening sequence pitting Bond against a speeding crew intent on shredding 007 and his car with bullets, Mark Forster sets the frenetic tone of QUANTUM, eliciting several pleasing gut reactions to the breakneck pursuit.  But the rapid-fire staccato of the editorial style quickly tends to favor action and visual stimulation over character identification, which is a key element of any Bond film.  Save for the film's calmer sequences where the pace does settle long enough to pit 007 and his allies against the new villain Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), repeated flash-frame cutting of truly wonderful fights and stunts imply that Forster was too wary of letting events play out on their own merits, and ran slightly amok by over-editing them.  Quite unlike CASINO ROYALE's visual elegance and even balance of clarity and kinetic motion, Forster weakens QUANTUM at times by striving for the impression of breathtaking action instead of letting the action speak bluntly and effectively for itself.

The good news is that Daniel Craig's return as Bond does not let such momentary distractions derail the character or his story.  Having wowed critics and impressed even hardcore Bond fans with his 2005 debut in the role, Craig advances the character by exposing his bitter loss and betrayal, kept contained and seething under the surface of his cool and sometimes chilling demeanor.  In this actor's hands, Bond continues to mean business in harsh life or death terms: he is not immune to his own humanity or that of the people who cross his path, but nor will he allow anyone — friend or foe — to use his guarded vulnerability as a weapon against him or his sworn duty to MI6.  Bond is most definitely back, harder, tougher and more determined than ever to protect those who would be used and destroyed by the callous evil of Greene and his shadowy Quantum operation.

Dame Judi Dench also returns as 'M' though the plot's burning question about Bond's control and loyalty tend to disarm her character as Bond's actions impel him farther out of her operational grasp.  Co-star Olga Kurylenko delivers a stern and appealing performance as Camille, a line-crossing player in this deadly game of betrayals and vengeance.  On the other hand, the film is served less well by both Bond's and Camille's driving motivations arising from tragic events in their past, rather than current action within this new story.  Likewise, Giancarlo Giannini's reprisal as MI6-retiree Rene Mathis carries all its emotional weight and plot relevance over from CASINOY ROYALE, allowing too much of QUANTUM to look backward rather than hurtling forward into new dangers and intrigue.

Indeed, if there's a weakness to the otherwise solid script by 007 veterans Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, it's that the supporting characters tend to get shortchanged by a complex tale interweaving Bond's search for personal justice in the murky, somewhat obscure and unspecific threats posed by the Quantum faction.  The lovely and highly appealing Gemma Arterton is terribly underutilized as MI6 operative Agent Fields, and serves mostly as a minor plot point rather than the specific supporting character she should have been.

As noted, Dominic Greene's public persona of a philanthropic benefactor of developing countries' basic utility needs is a less than effective cover for his dark doings as a member of the Quantum faction.  And while his specific double-dealings over the natural resources in politically troubled Bolivia are made clear in the script, the larger villainous threat looming behind this one plot is at best underdeveloped and weakly dramatized to garner audiences' concern that Bond and the world are truly in mortal, immediate danger. 

Mathieu Amalric does his best to ooze psychopathic disregard for human life behind the facade of his corporate image, but in the end Greene is more ironic bluster than lethal adversary and no true match for Bond — very much unlike CASINO ROYALE's LeChiffre who always played his deadly game one step ahead of 007 until Mr. White (returning Jesper Christensen) killed him to protect Quantum.  What this new group of evil phantoms needs is a bit more of the clarity of SPECTRE but without the arch-villain camp of Roger Moore-era Bond.

Some notes on the ritualized franchise favorites of Bond cinema: high marks to songwriter/performer Jack White and singer Alicia Keys for their gritty and grungy title track Another Way to Die, which carries on the post-modern tradition of percussive Bond themes. Alas, their song's impact gets buried in a silly abstract sandbox of an opening title sequence, blending Bond in generic action poses with a desert motif of sand dunes concealing artfully nude female forms.  While I didn't care for the somewhat garish style of CASINO ROYALE's card-themes animation, it certainly illustrated that film's general theme much better than QUANTUM's title montage which is neither artfully conceived nor cleverly executed.  On the topic of music, David Arnold's original score serves the film will, if with slightly less individual impact than did his excellent CASINO ROYALE soundtrack.

Another trademark of Bond films is their stunning and sumptuous use of exotic locations and sites all around the globe.  While QUANTUM certainly goes the distance to find new vistas — Chile's European Southern Observatory is a stark and imposing oasis of treachery — there is remarkably less romance in these arid deserts and water-starved regions of South America which serve as the primary backdrop for the film.  The best production value is gained from shooting the early action sequence in, around, under and atop the ancient Italian city of Siena, though once again it's old world assets in visual appeal play second fiddle to the dangers presented in its crumbling yet historic labyrinths.

What little gadgetry is on display in this film, a wise de-emphasis on technobabble carried over from the prior film, plays out well as MI6 boasts a variety of tabletop and heads-up displays integrating graphic data streams with interactive hands-on manipulation of files, photos and communications for M and her team.  A bit ahead of reality's curve, but this is the kind of future-thinking tech which adds a small yet satisfying cool factor to Bond films since the beginning.

Overall, QUANTUM OF SOLACE succeeds largely due to actor Daniel Craig continuing to push the envelope on James Bond's limits as a franchise hero spanning nearly five decades of cinematic action.  Craig continues to command attention in the lead role and he has quickly risen to second place in my personal list of Bond performers, just behind the iconic work of Sir Sean Connery who originated the part.  Daniel Craig does an impressive amount of his own stunts, yet the merit of his daring does too often get lost in director Mark Forster's overly-kinetic directorial style which tends to obscure and weaken the acting and action it should be revealing for maximum emotional and dramatic impact.  In short, the filmmaking tends to get in the way of this otherwise serviceable Bond adventure, which would have fared much better with a clearer, specific villainous threat and a cleaner palette of cinematic execution.

Bond is back and fans will happily welcome his return, but the world's most famous secret agent needs a stronger ally behind the camera for his next mission to truly fulfill his potential.