Quantum of Solace
Well, I went out to see the new Bond flick today, and shit was I......disappointed. Let's take this in three tracks, because there's three different ways for this movie to be considered: the writing, the directing, and Daniel Craig.
First up, Daniel Craig: finally, a decent Bond. Sean Connery established the role of this character, and Craig has finally returned it to what it should be: slick and suave when he should be, rough and tumble when he needs to be, but never without a reason. In Quantum, even the opening car chase has a good, solid reason for it, and it actually has to do with the plot of the movie.
Which brings us to the next point, the writing. Unlike Casino Royale, which I immensely enjoyed, Quantum has a plot which can be followed. I mean, this is at its heart an action movie; I should not have to pay immensely close attention to figure out character motivations and general plot line, and Quantum has certainly got it right on this point. I know who the characters are, I know what they're doing, and I know why, and the occasional bit of snappy dialogue and clever one-liners are a nice touch. There is some subtlety (one of the nice touches Craig has brought to the role), but not so much as I had to strain to keep up.
But, when its not dealing directly with the plot, which is to say every action sequence, this movie falls apart. To start with, director Marc Forster seems to have an absolute hard-on for shakey cam, because he uses it literally every chance he gets. There were even some scenes that could have been done with a goddamn TRIPOD that he used shakey cam for. Why? I assume he was looking for some edgy, you-never-quite-know-what's-happening, heat of the moment feel, but it really just came out as confusing. Combine that with what might be generously called "frenetic" editing (to me it looked like the visual thought process of a hyperactive twelve-year-old fucked up on cocaine), and you've got a recipe for disaster. I went with a friend, and he leaned over to ask, no less than three times in the first half hour, which one was Bond. Eventually he just sighed and said "Alright, the blurry guy in a suit who's winnning must be Bond". Yeah, it was that bad.
Overall, I'm gonna give this one a six out of ten. If you're looking for great sets, good writing, and one hella hot chick (Olga Kurylenko is smoking, and Gemma Arterton pulls off the liquid grace and appeal of the Miss Moneypennys of old), this is one to see, but really, don't bother trying to understand the action. It's there, but it's painful.
First up, Daniel Craig: finally, a decent Bond. Sean Connery established the role of this character, and Craig has finally returned it to what it should be: slick and suave when he should be, rough and tumble when he needs to be, but never without a reason. In Quantum, even the opening car chase has a good, solid reason for it, and it actually has to do with the plot of the movie.
Which brings us to the next point, the writing. Unlike Casino Royale, which I immensely enjoyed, Quantum has a plot which can be followed. I mean, this is at its heart an action movie; I should not have to pay immensely close attention to figure out character motivations and general plot line, and Quantum has certainly got it right on this point. I know who the characters are, I know what they're doing, and I know why, and the occasional bit of snappy dialogue and clever one-liners are a nice touch. There is some subtlety (one of the nice touches Craig has brought to the role), but not so much as I had to strain to keep up.
But, when its not dealing directly with the plot, which is to say every action sequence, this movie falls apart. To start with, director Marc Forster seems to have an absolute hard-on for shakey cam, because he uses it literally every chance he gets. There were even some scenes that could have been done with a goddamn TRIPOD that he used shakey cam for. Why? I assume he was looking for some edgy, you-never-quite-know-what's-happening, heat of the moment feel, but it really just came out as confusing. Combine that with what might be generously called "frenetic" editing (to me it looked like the visual thought process of a hyperactive twelve-year-old fucked up on cocaine), and you've got a recipe for disaster. I went with a friend, and he leaned over to ask, no less than three times in the first half hour, which one was Bond. Eventually he just sighed and said "Alright, the blurry guy in a suit who's winnning must be Bond". Yeah, it was that bad.
Overall, I'm gonna give this one a six out of ten. If you're looking for great sets, good writing, and one hella hot chick (Olga Kurylenko is smoking, and Gemma Arterton pulls off the liquid grace and appeal of the Miss Moneypennys of old), this is one to see, but really, don't bother trying to understand the action. It's there, but it's painful.