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)

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)

To tell the truth, I found it hard to decide how to review this movie because of the fragmentized beginning (a great mistake from Forster) and pathetic opening credits, but in the end the pluses outweighed the minuses (I didn’t mind that Bond didn’t drink Martini ;-). We start where we finished. Without any explanation at all, we are plunged into the action (a bit Miami Vice-style) and the beginning is then a march-past of incredible action scenes, not as flawless as in Casino Royale, but first-rate action all the same. Both Bond girls were also great, and personally I liked Gemma Arterton more than Olga Kurylenko, even though she was given less room to perform. And the powerhouse and also best-working component of the movie is the flawless Daniel Craig thanks to whom everything is as it should be. (28/11/2008)

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)

What is apparent from its screenplay and its exposition of 007 is that this 22nd Bond movie was supposed to be a revenge-driven, ferocious and almost furious culmination of Casino Royale. And the producers entrusted it to the artsy director who amputated all of Casino Royale’s powerful limbs and arranged flowers in their place. All the great action, the Bond car and all the stylish opening credits and interesting locations are absent and the bad guys look like they stepped out of a Pasolini movie. The only thing that makes Quantum of Solace a Bond movie, what keeps it kicking and earns it a third star in my rating, is the still great Daniel Craig (Olga Kurylenko is nice, but she’s still just a female background character in Bond’s world). This is the first Bond movie after a very long time that didn’t make me feel that heroic excitement I used to feel after watching action movies as a little boy. (03/11/2008)