Quantum of Solace: Review By JR

First off, The pepole 'who' hated this film have no taste. Now that that is said we shall begin.

Daniel Craig reprises his role as 007, but this time, there is no disconnect from previous films; Quantum of Solace is an actual sequel, not just another volume in a series. Bond picks up exactly where he left off in Casino Royale, still trying to find out who is behind the evil plot that killed his girlfriend Vesper. His main target is Mr. White, the man who seemingly rescued him during a brutal torture in Casino Royale.

This time, the trail leads 007 to Dominic Greene, a barbaric businessman who deals with Third World dictators while pretending to own a clean energy company. Greene is bent on obtaining a vast wasteland in Bolivia; not for oil, but for a secret water reserve.

Judi Dench also returns as 'M', Bond's tough British Intelligence commander. As 007 gets deeper into Dominc's dealings, he encounters the beautiful Camille, played by Russian actress Olga Kurylenko. Camille is former Bolivian intelligence agent, also bent on vengeance against the dictator who killed her family and left her scarred from a fire.

As 007 teams up with Camille, they are both eventually given the opportunity to exact their vengeance via an abrupt battle inside a hotel located in the desert of Bolivia. In the end, Bond must decide between revenge and duty.

Quantum has the same gritty action and realistic tendencies of its predecessor. Daniel Craig is making a good case for being the best actor to portray the famed British spy. Like Casino, Quantum stays away from the inane gadgetry that plagued the franchise for the past four decades. Like Casino, Quantum is also more of a drama than a spy thriller, getting into the human emotions of Bond and the people around him.

Olga Kurylenko as Camille- the nominal Bond girl. While she’s more of the Halle Berry/ Michelle Yeoh mold, in that she’s a heroine in her own right, she has a certain vulnerability that these other actresses lacked in their films that makes her very likable.

That said, she’s not really a true Bond girl, as there’s not much in the way of romance between them. I suppose Gemma Atherton as Fields, was brought in to give Bond a little action in the sheets- but I really found this character useless, and her whole sub-plot was really tacked on. But she did have a hot body.

Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Munich) was great as the villain of this particular flick by playing it cool and desp*cable without being corny or over the top. Unfortunately, we never really see why Bond should take an interest in him, and his scheme doesn’t really compare with some of the villains Bond has faced over the years. His character is kind of bland, and ultimately the whole plot feels like a mere diversion from Bond’s main goal of avenging Vesper’s death.

Overall, I thought Quantum of Solace was better than Casino Royale, which is why I’m so surprised that a lot of people have harsh words for it. They continued to bring some depth to Bond, and also some consequences to his actions. He’s not portrayed as Superman, and his job as a secret agent is not as glamourous as it once seemed. The movie simply follows up on what we saw in Casino Royale, pushing it a little bit further and taking it a little bit darker. I do miss some of the campy fun of the previous 007 movies (although I thought Quantum had a bit more humour than Casino Royale) but why were people praising the lack of this stuff before, when now all of a sudden it is a necessity?

Acting,action,effects...etc. is very good in this, This is one of my all time favorite bond flicks. Pepole say the movie blowed? Give it another try watch 'casino' right before this, And you will see my point in this being a good movie.

If you want a good action flick i recomend this strongly.