Quantum of Solace (2008)

O Masterpiece
O Excellent
X Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / January 4, 2009

It only took about 5 seconds of the opening chase scene of “Quantum of Solace” for my testosterone to start pumping, and I knew right then I was going to like this movie. If motion pictures were animals, this one would growl.

When it’s all said and done — yeah — “Quantum of Solace” is another action blockbuster, but it ranks among the few that are truly well made. Other examples would be its antecedent, “Casino Royale” (2006) and “The Bourne Identity” (2002).

Almost as long as people have been arguing the chicken or the egg dilemma, Bond fans have been debating over which actor plays the best 007. Actually, hyperbole aside, that discussion has gone on since about 1969, when the sixth Bond film, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” was released — when George Lazenby showed up in a tux (temporarily) in place of Sean Connery. But others also substituted: Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and that brings us to Daniel Craig.

Prior to “Casino Royale,” I personally was in the Brosnan camp. But all that changed with Daniel Craig. To truly be someone like James Bond or Jason Bourne, one would have to be a monster — not a monster outright but a Jekyll and Hyde combination. Daniel Craig somehow conveys a transparent stoicism, meaning, though he’s obviously unafraid and ruggedly tough, we can still see that he has inner conflicts. He is a tormented individual who can displace his pain to administer it upon his foes.

But the brightest victory for both “Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace” (which are No. 21 and No. 22 in the count of official Bond films) is that Daniel Craig’s 007 isn’t an impervious, invincible superman like we’ve seen in some of the earlier films. In the last two movies, we see him get banged up, busted up and bleed. He doesn’t clear his jumps by a mile; he’s an extraordinary everyman — but an everyman, nevertheless. I credit this winning character attribute to Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade, the screenwriters for both films, as well as Ian Fleming, who wrote the novels. Now we can believe Bond … mostly.

The director of photography for “Quantum of Solace” was Roberto Schaefer, whose competent work you’ve also seen in “The Kite Runner” (2007), “Stranger Than Fiction” (2006), “Finding Neverland” (2004) and “Monster’s Ball” (2001), among others. I make mention of him because he does a remarkable job with shooting the action in this film. I’m no cinematographer, but Schaefer’s photography deserves to be nominated at this year’s Academy Awards for Best Cinematography.

Lastly, I will more or less dispense with the plot summary, because attempting to describe what happens and why and where is pointless. Nobody cares. Spy movies always have twisty, labyrinthine story lines that the average moviegoer doesn’t truly understand, anyway. Yeah, Bond has a score to settle to avenge the death of the woman he loved, and he also wants to stop a bad man from doing a bad thing to an entire country, but we don’t really care about all that. Since it’s fictitious, bring on the explosions, exotic cars, exotic women and some fatal, spy-versus-spy duals.

Directed by Marc Forster
Daniel Craig / Olga Kurylenko / Mathieu Amalric
Action 106 min.
MPAA: PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content)

U.S. Release Date: November 14, 2008
Copyright 2008: 325