Nuke's Blog
Periodic ramblings by an old geek…

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Rating:  

This will be an atypical post for me… (1) it’s a single movie at a time, (2) it’s a movie I actually watched in the theater.  I tried to get someone to come along with me tonight, but there weren’t any takers.  I guess I can understand why many people didn’t like the previous Daniel Craig version, Casino Royale.  For those who had no idea it was meant to be a “prequel” to the Bond enterprise, they were obviously disappointed by the lack of those Bond movie features we’ve all grown used to.  T and our friend, Grant, went to that movie without me and just plain hated it… though, they missed what I thought were the crucial final five minutes of the film.  I remember being completely jazzed for the next film after I watched it a couple days later.  Personally, I loved that film (I gave it 4/5 stars at the time) … I felt Craig was an outstanding choice for the next Bond, and I understood going in what it was meant to be.  The ending left me excited that the next film would return to what we’ve been used to, but with a very strong new actor in place.

 

Well, fast forward to Quantum of Solace.  I now realize I was mistaken.  This really is a new Bond.  As one reviewer correctly noted, this is a reboot (I like the way he put that).  This is a more serious Bond… if you look closely enough, you see the old Bond there… you see hints along the way that those features you grew to love just might show up in the future.  Some start to already, though I wouldn’t hold your breath they’ll all make it back in.  In fact, the title of this post seems to be one of those features missing.  If you keep a scorecard of all the features you expect, you won’t use up much ink during the film.

 

Having said all that, I feel compelled to compare this with the “reboot” of the Batman movies, which occurred with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.  I love the new Bond in the same way I love the new Batman.  These guys are no longer screwing around.  They have some serious angst which is just barely under control, and you can see it.  Sure, there is this annoying trend (by the script writers?) to attempt to comment on current world events (even global warming for crying out loud), but I can see past that.  I will still hold the Sean Connery versions of Bond as my favorites.  I don’t see how Goldfinger can ever be beat, but these are a very refreshing change from what I guess is now the “old” Bond.

 

(By the way, the action is dizzying at times… I swear they tried to take fight scene concepts straight from the Bourne series.  Argh.)

 

Final conclusion?  If you liked what they did with Casino Royale, you definitely need to watch this.  If you hated it, run away fast.  Save some money and dust off the original Bond movies.  (I have the entire set on DVD if you want to borrow them. ;)

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