Quantum of Solace

Well here is latest James Bond film to hit the theaters in two years. It is a regular Bond film filled with intrigue, action, and beautiful women. It sort of shies away from the original Bond formula you could say but, I do not see any problem in that. After all, it is the 21st century.

James Bond has lost his love by being betrayed in "Casino Royale"; and he finds it hard not to seek revenge against who mislead her. He finds that a secret organization exists that MI6 has no record of whatsoever. American Intelligence does not have any record or want to help with information on this new secret organization. Not only that, there are also intelligence leaks in almost all the partner agencies they work with.

The organization is named "Quantum", and they have been kept off intelligence radar extremely well. Bond goes out of his way breaking all the rules with hardly any help from anyone, to find out who is involved in the organization that made his lost love "Vesper" a patsy. "Quantum" is very quick moving with all the action without much character development. There is a lack of snippy sarcastic jokes and they have just added more action. However James doesn't receive as much help from MI6 or friends as in previous films. So the movie has to keep moving along. Bond not only has to do everything to resolve the problems he is faced with - he is alone in his accountability.

All in all it was truly entertaining! I was not disappointed at all. Was it the best "Bond" film I have seen? I would have to say no, but it will satisfy your hunger for action as well as seeing well Bond be . . . Bond on the big screen. I admit it does seem to be missing something, editing can be a tricky thing but, it was hard to put my finger on it. The franchise has retained that debonair trait that Bond has had in the previous films, but Craig's version of the character is more cold, cutthroat, and less charm. A more "down and dirty" and get down to business type of Bond. Also, there are no gadgets in this film. Yes, he has a nice car - but no amazing tools to help him along. Although they do highlight a cellphone during the film, but about everyone has a cellphone. I think these are the qualities that most "Bond People" will be missing while seeing this film. Summing up a great film that is worth seeing in theaters.

I give it a 6.5 out of 10. I really don't have an official rating system yet I guess I should get one.

Official Quantum of Solace Website.
http://www.007.com/

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I enjoyed the WSJ review that called it "a model of mediocrity" . . . a "low-rent Bond" . . . "short and sour, with semicoherent action that plays like third-rate Jason Bourne." It singled out "Marc Forster's clumsy direction of a heartless script." Noting that this is the first Bond film not based on an Ian Fleming novel, the review concludes, "Another Bond as drab as this could sink the franchise if the keepers of the Fleming flame don't watch out."

Of course, WSJ also reported the film was raking in barrels of money at the box office during its first weekend.

Still, I suspect Bond will not transfer easily to the 21st century, being such a child of the '60s with all the politically incorrect faults of that period--hedonism, womanizing, and all those cool high-tech tools for killing. Also I think it's even more impossible to separate Bond from Fleming than it was to separate him from Sean Connery. Fleming created Bond's world with all the inside material on the British and USSR secret services and groups like S.M.E.R.S.H., with all of those strange villains and oddly named vixens. But none of that works today with Britain a second-class power and Russia in need of western investment to survive. No matter how bottled, Bond just hasn't aged well.

FYI: the poster you've included with your review is a fan creation from June of last year. Check out this thread in the Upcoming Movies & Sequels forum to observe some of our amateur sleuthing and deduction on the topic: James Bond: Quantum of Solace (a.k.a. Bond 21).

Anyway, here's my review of Quatum of Solace. Sorry it's so late; I saw it during its opening weekend, didn't around to writing most of it until this past weekend, and didn't finish it until today. I'm sorry to say that I was quite disappointed with it.

Very good review Yoda...after all the trailer worshiping I've done over the last couple of months, the reviews of Quantum are extremely disappointing. I'm tempted to not go see it at all especially after Metacritic ended up giving it only a one point advantage over Twighlight.

Too bad it didn't turn out better. Glad to hear the Craig is still the man for the job though.

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If you haven’t seen Quantum of Solace yet, you might want to wait until it’s out on DVD. It’s the latest James Bond flick, the second one starring Daniel Craig as 007, but it’s a far cry from the glory of Casino Royale, the near perfect reboot of the Bond franchise, from a few years ago. As a follow up, we’re given Solace, a loud, vengeful, violent, and surprisingly boring film.

When you think of James Bond, certain keywords usually come to mind: sophisticated, cool, ladies-man, technological savvy, and modern style, amongst others. Sadly, none of those elements can be found in Quantum of Solace - not with any real conviction, anyway.

The film starts exactly where the last one left off, with Bond out to avenge the death of his love. In the process of going ‘rogue’ and killing off the bad guys, he uncovers an international water stealing ring, led by a small group of powerful billionaires. Unfortunately, there’s really not much more to the plot. The movie is one extremely violent shootout after another. There are car chases, boat chases, and chases on foot. Bond is angry and out for revenge. But while it’s possible to make great films with this scenario, Quantum of Solace is a failure. It comes off as a quickly written script (Paul Haggis says he wrote it in two hours), thrown together for maximum bang, as if it were put together by people who figured that a lot of glitzy action is all they needed to make money. Needless to say, Quantum of Solace is both written and directed by different people than the far superior Casino Royale.

It’s possible the studio wanted to make a darker, different Bond this time around. If so, it was a careless thought, because Casino Royale did a fine job of updating the series, while keeping important elements in tact, the way Warner Bros did with Batman Begins. Royale worked, and that formula should not have been so drastically changed. Solace puts no emphasis on the most famous character traits of James Bond - the gadgets, the charm, and the ladies - all of which leave a big void in the enjoyment of watching the film. Even the romance seems like an afterthought: Bond doesn’t get the girl this time, he beds the assistant (although it’s never shown) with just a few lines of crass dialogue. I guess that’s supposed to be the charm.

As only a wise man from Las Vegas could phrase it, Quantum of Solace is expertly produced garbage. There are good points about the film, including the cinematography by Roberto Schaefer, which is outstanding, and Daniel Craig continues to shine as James Bond. But if you want better action and better thrills in this same vain, do yourself a favor and rent the Jason Bourne trilogy - those are exciting and intelligent thrillers, unlike Quantum of Solace.

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Rufnek, i'm gonna go on a limb and say this is not the first Bond that isn't based on an Ian Fleming novel. Don't think invisible cars were Fleming's thing.

italkfilm, i have to disagree with a part of your review- "Bond... being Bond". They've almost completely changed Bond now, he has hardly any of his defining characteristics left.

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He was into flying cars though...

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Touche.

I cannot wait to see this movie! I loved Casino Royal and this looks just as good maybe better from the reviews ive read!

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the good reviews of this movie makes me more eager to watch this movie..

i've been putting off seeing this for ages, and the mixed reviews have got me pretty bummed out...it doesn't seem to be the homerun i was hoping for after the extraordinary "casino royale".

i dissagree, seeming as a new bond is pumped out every couple of years the writers have done an incredible job of even thinking of more plots. also every time you walk into a cinema with any mention of 007 in the title theres always a boyish bounce in your step as the iconic start scenes roll. theres something about james bonds irresistable charm that is just delectably, well, charming!

A horror movie, above all things, should be scary. A comedy, above all things, should be funny. A Bond film should be fun. This was one of the most boring theater viewings I've had in years. What a lifeless, aimless movie, especially after the crackling Casino Royale.

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the angel stayed until something died, one more murder suicide

I could not agree more - I consider this one of the worst films I saw at theatres last year.

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i think this film has a bad ending i agree with low ratings but definitely has its moments like the start to middle i hate also mark forsters camera work but tell me ur opinion abt the film

This is a review I wrote back in January. What "moments" are you talking about?

for example when u have the spying thing in austria theh way he intervenes tk the conversation and everyone leaves without a trace also when he finds mathis killed etc it has its moments with a nice music to add to the intrigue

A great action thriller, an enjoyable Bond film. Daniel Craig is great as Bond. Fantastic visual effects; weak plot, could have been stronger. Worth a watch.

do i guys think that quantum of solace has its moments?

It does. Though, as has been brought up here already, the plot is quite weak, and I didn't like the villain.