Quantum Of Solace

(Note: This was posted on Sunday, November 23rd 2008 on my old Freewebs site)

I just got back from seeing Quantum of Solace, I'm still not quite sure what to think of it.  It's a fun movie to watch, sure, and MGM's sure as hell going to make some paper off of it.  But I can't help but be reminded of the acronym 'PWP' (Plot What Plot) when I think of this movie.

What I mean is, I've seen Casino Royale, and the plot threads in QOS are still hard to follow at times.  Woe to those who haven't seen the first third of this story (Yes, I said 'first third'.)  I say this because the plot of QOS resolves just about nothing from Casino Royale other than allowing Bond to end the film with a moderately clear conscience.  Well, it actually does resolve the plot thread of Vesper Lynd's boyfriend, mostly off-screen.

That bit wasn't helped in the slightest by the fact that by that point, the movie had felt like it had been dragging on thirty minutes too long.  Many of the action sequences seemed more like filler than anything remotely integral to the plot, and while I can forgive said sequences for never letting the characters finish a damn sentence, you can't expect the bad guys to politely wait for you to finish speaking before they try and kill you, I can't forgive whoever directed the movie for constantly showing the various over-the-top action scenes replete throughout QOS...and then randomly switching to Bum-Assville, wherever.

Here's Bond fighting off the villains' goons in the kitchen of an opera house, bullets are flying and things are exploding, it looks like Bonds in trouble and...Let's see what's going on in the play that's on stage!  Back to the action, oh, looks like James has gotten himself out of another tight spot. Is anybody else wondering what the hell he was doing while we were watching the play?  I'll bet it was something awesome.

I also can't forgive this:

*Strange Noise, Bad Guy is a little startled*   
UNIMPORTANT CHARACTER:  Just the fuel cells.
BAD GUY:  Sounds unstable.                            

Things like this never bothered me before I started frequenting TV Tropes...

...No, scratch that, things like this have always bothered me.  Oh look at me, I'm the bad guy making clandestine arrangements in my big exploding hotel in the middle of a desert with no backup or escape plan, I sure hope no one whos British and has been chasing the other Bad Guy who fully intends to screw me shows up with one of the children of the shitloads of people I've killed, armed to the teeth.

By the time the movie got to the part with Vesper's ex, the people behind me were muttering "It's not over yet?".  Bad Bond movie, we should not be tired of watching you.

Quantum of Solace has it's flaws all right.  It's certainly no From Russia With Love, as it's twists and turns ultimately leave the audience with absolutely no closure on the story, and less of a clue as to what's going on.  It stacks up with it's more immediate predecessor the same way Tomorrow Never Dies stacks up to Goldeneye.

It's far better than Die Another Day though, and Daniel Craig's brutally pragmatic Bond is just as much a treat in QOS as he was in Casino Royale.  It's just a shame we don't get to see him doing anything that matters in the big picture by the end of the film, other than leaving his demons behind.