Quantum of Solace

007's character was never one I had to have on a poster above my bed, and he could name the proportions of all the women who had slept with him. Still, I have always appreciated how "trendy" he can be, not only in terms of dressing but also in filmmaking. The present is ruled by the brawlers on speed who solve problems with the elegance of a bulldozer, and this is exactly the category that James Bond had to conquer. He did it perfectly. We can argue about how much the plot would stand on its own without the previous poker kick-off, but Marc Forster goes much further. The hackneyed blockbuster rules are shattered, the characters behave erratically, and even the hero straddles the line where good meets evil so closely that it's hard to discern which one of them has the upper hand in his actions. Craig is brilliant, handling the torn emotions and the cold fights without blinking an eye, Amalric's villain oozes respect, and Olga is an elegant addition who fills her role to perfection. Forster's work is obviously not to everyone’s taste, but when I read criticisms about art, I shake my head in disbelief and boldly put Quantum of Solace on my personal list of top films. (11/11/2008)

I’d say that the traditional martini is a thing of the past for the new Bond, Craig looks more like someone who sips energy drinks. When we left the cinema my friend said: “Mate, didn’t we make a mistake? Wasn’t this Hulk by any chance?“ We didn't, but the fact is that Bond's casualness, elegance, wit, insight and typical ironic puns have probably gone down the drain with the dashing Craig. To make an animal analogy, Bond has always been something of an easy-going German shepherd for me (with the exception of Dalton), while Craig's Bond is a purebred brawling pit bull. I'm not complaining, just stating dryly, but I'm not really enjoying this newly set Bond universe. That said, it was a pretty decent action flick. (17/11/2008)

The first Bond that is practically without a beginning. It takes a while to get used to the fact that the film starts essentially in the middle, so we don't get a lot of character analysis and explanations of who is working for whom. Quantum of Solace is almost exactly on the well-worn tracks of Casino Royale, and that is a good thing. Daniel Craig has achieved something unprecedented, he has perfectly defined the contemporary action hero, which no one has been able to do in the past 10 years. Ethan Hunt is too action-oriented and not believable enough, Jason Bourne is an emotionless machine, but Crags's portrayal of James Bond is a thrilling persona that fits perfectly into the current trend of the perfect man: a rough, charismatic, and intelligent killer who is like a fish out of water without a luxury suit. Thankfully, there are emotions and love, but presented intentionally in a subdued manner, and delivered in precise doses, and Bond is breathtaking in those moments with the accompaniment of a gentle piano. Forster knows exactly what is in nowadays and he is careful. Perhaps it is only in the last two Bond movies where they managed to bring rawness to the action, meaning that finally the blows are hard enough, the falls are rough enough, and the running is fierce enough; no frills, no clever cameras shortening this or that, absolutely fierce, uncompromising, and devilishly fast action without any time for thinking. It could almost be said that the adrenaline can be felt through the screen. Casino Royale plus Quantum of Solace: timeless filmmaking. (15/03/2009)

Bond is running wild. The honest data disk to Casino Royale, which lags in the ability to operate independently. The scenario moves into a more classic dimension, James' emotional hesitation remains credible, I immensely enjoy the action, and above all, Daniel Craig loses the look of a wild beast who has been given a license to kill and behaves like an elephant in a china shop. Bond keeps killing, but with style, elegance, and I must say, with a certain sinful pleasure. The Bond girl (the classic one) is here briefly, but exactly as the fans want her to appear. Beautiful, slightly annoying, but in the consequences of James' deadly charm, also helpless. In Olga's portrayal, Camille is an equal partner, although she cannot fulfill the ancient fate of Vesper by principle. And the main hero remains seemingly insensitive machine that won't back down. During the screening shortly after watching the previous escapades of Quantum, the motivation or credibility of the villains gradually runs out, but in the face of scenes like the deadly edited Austrian cat-and-mouse game, it doesn't fall behind much. (11/11/2008)

The only problem about this otherwise splendid action movie is that it just isn’t a Bond movie; not one bit. Which might piss double-o-seven fans off a little, but in view of the fact that I not a particular aficionado of the character, nothing stopped me from having a great time. For the first time since From Russia with Love. What Marc Forster gets away with in this commercial blockbuster is not only endearing, but often admirable. The action scenes are ingenious and fantastically edited together. And what’s the best thing about the twenty-second Bond movie? Well, I maybe repeating myself, but the simple fact that this isn’t a Bond movie, but “just" a gripping, honest-to-god action thriller, at last with an interesting, non-two-dimensional hero with a face like a pissed gorilla in a suit. (06/11/2008)