Quantum of Solace
Review by Jason Donner
James, James, James... what happened to you? After your reboot you were all focus and intensity and now you're the proverbial chicken running around with its head cut off. No, that's inaccurate, you're more like a headless chicken just sort of... wandering.
Following
the amazing reboot of James Bond, Quantum of Solace
finds our dear 007 trying to untie the mystery of the organization
pulling the strings during his last adventure. I so wanted it to
be S.P.E.C.T.R.E., but it looks like they're calling themselves
Quantum this time around.
Bond is so intent on bringing these people to justice at the end of a gun that he defies everyone to do it, leaving him a rouge agent out for blood.
If I were to sum up my feelings for Quantum of Solace in one word, it would be extreme disappointment. I know that's two words, but one word just can't summarize by complete heartbreak over the meandering and unfocused adventure I just sat through.
Everything seems to have taken a step backwards. The story is the stuff that the Dalton movies were made of, Daniel Craig seems even less charming and Bond-like, and the only one in this movie who showed any real consistency was Judy Dench as M.
Even the fallback action scenes, though exciting at the time, are unmemorable and just distracting to whatever story Quantum of Solace has going at the time. This sequel suffers a near-disastrous meltdown of bad script and aimless direction. Hopefully, the Bond Brigade are not falling back on the old theory that the public will watch any drivel that has the 007 trademark on it, because the rebooted Bond seems to be on its way back to the mire of The World is Not Enough where the story is a convoluted mess and the bad guys just aren't that much of a threat.
This is a weird one. It feels like an action movie, but it doesn't have the flair or charm of a James Bond movie. It's forgettable nonsense that stands as a stark disappointment following Casino Royale that leaves us shaken, but not stirred.