thefilmfiles

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

Not a quantum of solace did I feel upon hearing the first warbling strains of the Bond song, sung, sort of by Alicia Keys.  No solace because you have to realize, despite my status as a serious-minded reviewer, when it comes to these big popcorn things starring hunky heroes, I kind of lose it.  I freely admit that Casino Royale will stay on my DVR, and I'll keep watching it forever.

So who was more sorry than me to have to now break up with their pretend boyfriend, Daniel Craig, thanks to this latest installment.  It was very much like what happened to Christian Bale in The Dark Knight, except without the saving grace of Heath Ledger.  I like to call that film The Joker with Special Guest Batman.  It is neither the fault of Craig or his villain played by Mathieu Almaric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), in fact I'm not sure who to blame, but I have some ideas.

Just a brief summary of what happens as far as I can parse out.   It wasn't just me either, as I left the theater I heard a number of people bemusedly wondering what the whole thing had been about.  Something about picking up where the last film left off when Bond shoots Mr. White in the knee.  There is the peremptory opening car chase, then someone tries to kill M, then Bond's in Haiti, then he's at Tosca in Austria with some nasty crosscutting.  Let me stop, there is a funny bit here when Bond throws a baddie off of the roof.  Then, he's in Bolivia, then he takes his shirt off for one second to seduce a lady, and a second later he's falling out of a plane into the desert.  Finally, he kills Vesper's boyfriend who's in Russia.  I'm not giving anything away.

Okay, let's face it, except for Casino Royale (CR), which did have a real and compelling origin story, most Bond stories are kind of nonsensical.  Crazy guy tries to take over the world and Bond stops him but not before he's captured and tortured and escapes and has sex with some babes.  Granted, this is the new Bond and they've changed the formula.  But they seem to have gone and changed it again.  It's as if almost everything that made CR fresh and new got dumped.  So, no clear storyline and no romance. and very little Bond sharply dressed in his tuxedo, mostly he's filthy and grungy.  If you're looking for beefcake Bond, forget it, there is only the briefest whisper of a sexual encounter.   There aren't even any BOND GADGETS.  Yes M has some sort of visual phone computer thingy but not James, it's just him and his fists of fury.  Finally, and most important, there are not nearly enough glam locations.  Not to take anything away from rough places where people are struggling but the Bond franchise is supposed to be like going on vacation for those of us who can't afford to and when I'm fantasizing it's not about Haiti or Panama.

One more problem and it's a huge one: many of the action sequences were dizzying and not in a good way.  Rather, they became impossible to follow.  For example, one nice homage to Vertigo begins with James and a villain struggling in a bell tower but it devolves into a series of to rapidly cut tight shots, such that the viewer doesn't really know what's going on until the very last gunshot.  Even the best stunt with some frightening free fall skydiving (shot in something called Bodyflight, the world's largest skydiving wind tunnel) was a bit of a mess.  This is a problem throughout and the director, Marc Forster (Monster's Ball,The Kite Runner)is admittedly not experienced at choregraphing big action set pieces, but maybe leaving it to his 2nd unit director to handle wasn't the best idea.  

Alright, it's Bond, so I have to say some good things too, because I'll probably never give up on this franchise.  First and foremost, Daniel Craig is still a fantastically brooding Bond, although not having him smile but once is a bit much.  At least inCR, he had a smirky, teasing relationship with Vesper.  Here he's either a rage-aholic or a curmudgeon, but a strapping and graceful one nonetheless.  The guy clearly worked hard for his millions and I commend him.  The rest of the cast was also good as well, from Dame Judi to the underutilized Jeffrey Wright and Monsieur Almaric.  The few glam locations were lovely especially the opening shots in Italy and the mountains in Bolivia (Chile).

It's always a gorgeous production with no expense spared, it just needed a story and some more wide shots.  When Bond abruptly walks off screen, I was left wishing there was more, although not quite that it wouldn't end which is how I always feel on my repeat viewings of CR.   But even with all those misses,  I'll still have to reconsider my rash decision to put Christian Bale back in the top hearthrob spot, because you simply can't not look away from those crazy blue eyes.

Quantum of Solace opens November 14, nationwide.

Directed by Marc Forster; written by Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade; director of photography, Roberto Schaefer; edited by Matt Chesse and Richard Pearson; music by David Arnold; produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.  Released by Sony Pictures. Running time: 105 minutes.