So obviously, we saw Quantum of Solace yesterday on its opening day (haven't missed a Bond movie on opening day since 1983). So we got a sitter and went out.
After the glossy relaunch of the Bond franchise with Casino Royale, I really had no idea what to expect or where they'd go next. While I would have loved to see them start to remake the Fleming novels in the way they did Daniel Craig's first outing, I'm good with where they've taken the character and where they seem to be headed with him.
Picking up almost immediately where we left off, Quantum of Solace hits the ground running and almost never stops. Bond is motivated by revenge for Vesper's betrayal and her death and he is letting nothing get in his way. As he stumbles from one lead to the next (pretty much killing off everyone as he goes), he eventually winds up uncovering a large international cabal that seems to be manipulating the actions of governments (the plot here is a bit convoluted, but not too difficult to figure out if you think about it and a second viewing will clear up everything).
Some of the complaints from about the film are unwarranted and others are unfounded. You can't praise Casino Royale for deviating from the "Bond formula" and refreshing the franchise and then deride this film for not adhering to it (even though it actually does if you dissect it properly). And while there may be too many instances of the "Bourne effect" present in the editing, it actually works well for this film.
This film is the next necessary step in the evolution of Craig's Bond. This "blunt instrument" (as M refers to him), needed to go full force to get back to his center...to find his moment of comfort so he can evolve more into the suave agent we've known and loved. I'm sur ethe next film will continue him on this route (and give us more insight into this new evil organization).
When the producers have need to refresh Bond over the years they always return to Fleming and this film is no exception. Where Casino Royale went back to Fleming's first book it also had the feel of Fleming's On her Majesty's Secret Service. Here, Quantum of Solace takes its title from a Fleming short story and has the feel of the novel You Only Live Twice. Its a fast moving and gritty travelogue that barely gives you time to breathe. Its easily up there with the best of the series (haven't figured out where on my list it will land yet) and I can't wait to see this again and see where they go next (but whatever they do, we need more of Jeffrey Wright's Felix Leiter -- maybe take the "buddy" film and give it a Bondian twist with Bond & Leiter).
Oh...there is one MAJOR complaint I have about the film...I didn't like the theme song "Another Way to Die" by Jack White and Alicia Keyes when I first heard it, but a Bond theme song needs to be heard in context with the opening titles. The titles made me like the song even less. This is easily one of the worst Bond themes ever...luckily, its not quite bottom of the barrel Madonna's "Die Another Day" bad as I think someone could do justice to this song with a good cover version using better orchestration -- Madonna's song is a lost cause). I do miss Daniel Kleinman's title sequences from the Brosnan films though.
Meanwhile, Cartoon Network has premiered a new animated Batman series entitled Batman: The Brave and the Bold. This is a fun series that mixes the humor of the 1960s series with the more fun aspects of the 1990s animated series (and its sister series). Each episode finds the Dark Knight teamed up with another hero of the DC Universe to defeat some villain. The pilot episode starts with Batman & Green Arrow fighting Clock King (in all his silly 1960s costume glory) and then turns to an outer space adventure where Batman and Blue Beetle (the modern Jaime Reyes version with the alien space armor) defending a race of alien blobs from Kanjar Ro. Its silly fun, but worth watching.
I hope to be back sooner rather than later, but life's been geting in the way (mostly in good ways with the boys)...
Be seeing you.
No comments:
Post a Comment