Quantum of Solace (MGM/Columbia)
Action From Start To Finish
The new James Bond adventure starts off with a wild car chase and maintains the buildup of adrenaline until the very end. Quantum of Solace may not have much of a plot but it sure does have excitement. Daniel Craig is back as the new Bond who hasnt a quip on his lips or a smile on his face. He is serious, dead serious.
This movie takes place about ten minutes after the end of Casino Royale. Bond is grieving over the death of his true love Vespa and is determined to gain revenge for her death. To do this he throws the rules out the window which cause his boss M (Judi Dench) a lot of trouble.
The person he appears to be pursuing is a man named Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). He purports to be working to save the world from global warming but is in fact pulling off underhanded deeds that will hurt the planet rather then help it. He is joining forces with General Medrano (Joaquin Cosio), a Bolivian dictator who is being pursued by a woman named Camille (Olga Kurylenko). She has her own reasons for revenge.
In this movie the plot is not that important. It provides a skeletal framework on which to hang the action pieces and that is enough. If you need a thorough and convincing plot well you best look elsewhere.
Craig is now my second favorite Bond of all time. He still hasnt supplanted Sean Connery but he has quickly erased both Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan from my memory. Connery was able to play Bond halfway serious and halfway tongue in cheek. Moore and Brosnan could only handle the tongue in cheek action. Craig plays Bond in dead seriousness. He is not an agent or man to be trifled with in any way.
The best Bond girl in this movie is Dench. Her scenes with Craig crackle and you only hope there will be more, much more. Kurylenko is quite good as Bonds companion in crime. She has her own mission but sticks with Bond during some anxious times.
In the one tip of the hat to the old Bond days, Gemma Arterton plays an agent named Strawberry Fields. She is a typical Bond girl inserted in the film just for some sexual tension.
Amalric is okay as the Bond villain but he doesnt have the menace of those who came before him. Jeffrey Wright makes good use of his screen time as a CIA agent who is a friend of Bond. Giancarlo Giannini has some poignant moments as an agent who comes out of retirement to help Bond and ends up playing the ultimate price for his troubles.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
Craigs second outing in the Bond role solidifies him as one of the best Bonds ever. He has those piercing blue eyes that seem to mirror the heartbreak in his soul as he portrays Bonds vengeance and loss. And then there is the action in the movie that literally takes ones breath away. Hang on to your hats boys, it is going to be a wild and wooly ride!
I scored Quantum of Solace an 007 out of 10.
