| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Action & Adventure |
James Bond continues shedding years of camp in this second installment of a revamped 007. While not as coherent and action-packed as "Casino Royale", the movie serves well as a middle movie bridging the ground-breaking first movie and what ought to be an all-out blockbuster third.
Very little of the old formula remained. The only recognizable element from the previous James Bonds were the intricate drink and the two Bond Girls (one of which is doomed to die). The gadgets are practically gone (Casino Royale still had some.). The villains are no longer theatrical. The traps...were there any traps?
The result is a more human James Bond. And the James Bond of Quantum of Solace is the most human of all. He has little suave, and his raging sexuality is surprisingly tame. He beds a grand total of one girl. This James Bond is all business, and for once he's not out to make other guys jealous of the spy lifestyle.
On the other hand, this Bond also lacks subtlety. Bond seems to be playing Grand Theft Auto. His body count is upped from the last movie.
The performances were good, but nothing really spectacular. Daniel Craig's Bond was his usual brooding self. Probably the best Bond this side of Sean Connery. Judi Dench was a presence to be reckoned with onscreen, though her time was limited. Olga Kurylenko was so wooden, Keanu Reeves is gonna feel the urge to cross-pollinate, while Gemma Arterton was smoking.
The vistas were breathtaking, from the Adriatic Coast to the Andes Mountains. Unfortunately, the quirky camera work sometimes interferes with the travelogue feel of some of the locations.
Overall, the movie did what it was supposed to do: whet everybody's appetite for the third installment of the reconstructed James Bond.
That's whatI thought too - the movie made Bond more human. (Revenge? Er...what? That's not James Bond! Haha!) And, yeah the gadgets! I miss those! But, I'd rather have no gadgets than have really bizarre ones - like the invisible car in Die Another Day. That was way too much.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you gave it a 4/5...
Craig is the only James Bond who gets "DIRTY"
and...
the villain has gotta go! Haha! Some rich fish-looking guy chopping his own toes! :))