Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Updates:

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Director: Marc Forster

Time Out rating

Average user rating

202 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Which, along with mean and lean, is how Daniel Craig plays 007 in Marc Forster’s slightly disappointing, furiously-paced, hi-tech, slash-and-burn sequel to the more leisurely, luxurious first ‘reboot’, ‘Casino Royale’.

James Bond – you’ll have to remember his Christian name as the arrogant cad neglects to announce it – is grieving the loss of lover and betrayer Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). You’d best remember the plot – and Lynd’s necklace – of the earlier film, too, as director Forster throws us immediately, eye-smackingly into the frenetic activity and globe-traversing travel that is the angry, increasingly unorthodox, ‘soul-destroyed’ world-saving agent’s way of dealing with betrayal, grief and loss.

Eight minutes of highly impressive, parallel-edited, SFX-assisted, stunt-laden action are up before the ears, eyeballs and brain get their first momentary repose. Before then, our hero chases down Mr White in the Aston dodgem-car through Alpine tunnels. Cough or blink and you’ll miss how our bold spooks link the last film’s Le Chiffre to bug-eyed faux environmentalist Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a destabiliser of US backyard governments with a laughable, pudding-basin haircut-ed sidekick. Almost immediately, he hops, skips and jumps across Siena’s roofs and the horse-loving, harlequin-ed Palio crowds – and we soon follow Bond ‘running wild’ from the palatial villas of Italy to the slums of Haiti, the neo-Reifenstahl opera houses of Vienna, and the menacingly beautiful, otherworldly moonscapes and deserts of Bolivia.

So much dash, flash and thrill – so many boat chases, tight rope-dangling fight scenes, bi-plane dogfights, architectural flourishes and flat-table computer displays – there’s scant time left for character, let alone, story, fun, seduction, humour or wit. You can sense the older, traditionalist viewers wanting to go home early to take their nostalgia pills. True, there are some cute one-liners – presumably the product of Paul Haggis’s polish of Neal Purvis and Robert Wade’s screenplay taken from producer Michael G Wilson’s first inspirational treatment and itself repeatedly pencil-marked by Forster and Craig.

Also, new Bond Woman Olga Kurylenko is impressive as 007’s Latin helpmeet Camille. But, strange for a supposedly ‘humanising’ franchise, Craig’s Bond comes dangerously close to being a cipher himself: only a ‘Bourne’-again, action superhero could perform his physical feats.

It’s a cynical movie, too: half the Brit agents are double and all the US spies seem untrustworthy – save Felix Leiter, of course, whom the excellent Jeffrey Wright reprises in arguably the film’s sole sympathetic, low-key performance. (Though, intriguingly, Judi Dench’s ‘M’ has gone all maternal – couldn’t she be renamed ‘SM’, for Surrogate Mum?) Okay, maybe real life is, pace Hobbes, brutal, nasty and short – like this movie. But can’t we sneak in the odd moment for some occasional quiet conversation, maybe even a leisurely martini or a game of baccarat, even if we can’t afford luxury rail travel or – God forbid – some protracted, guiltless sex? Go on, Bond, next time, indulge yourself a little more. We like to watch.

Author: Wally Hammond 2008-10-20 13:31:15

Time Out London Issue 1993, 30 October – 4 November, 2008

Bookmark

User reviews of this film

Anthony said...

Posted on Nov 25 2008 21:16 This has to be the most boring and badly filmed films I've ever seen. I have all the previous Bond Films on DVD but I won't bother getting this one. My advise is to save your money and stay home... unless you like looking at scenes that look like they were flimed my a drunk chimp swinging the camera on a bit of string.

Report as inappropriate
Mohan said...

Posted on Nov 24 2008 17:58 I am going to watch it today,

Report as inappropriate
SteveKay said...

Posted on Nov 24 2008 16:31 This is one of the most appallingly boring Bond Films I have ever seen. No humour, No 'Q' with the gadgets, Poor Dialogue a script written on the back of a matchbox and camerawork that looks like it was taken by an amatuer with a camcorder.
And what a finale! In a hotel in the middle of a desert! Original I suppose, but nothing too lavish!
If they don't give Daniel Craig something better than this, he will land up as the next Bond on the preverbial Bond-Heap.

Report as inappropriate
Dianna said...

Posted on Nov 24 2008 15:36 I actually thought this film was better than some people are making it out to be. The storyline is a little thin in places but relentless action and good character development make up for this. Casino Royale was better, though. Also it annoyed me slightly how every two minutes it was Vesper-this, Vesper-that. I know you're mad and sad, double-oh, but can you please think of something else for, like, five seconds?

Report as inappropriate
jimmyoready said...

Posted on Nov 24 2008 09:17 Best Bond film for ages: gritty and real, beautifully styled and lit, with thrilling action and subtle emotional resonance.

Report as inappropriate
john said...

Posted on Nov 23 2008 23:19 They killed James Bond with this movie and I gave one star because zero stars is classified as unrated. Please go back to the basics with Bond movies

Report as inappropriate
leffer said...

Posted on Nov 23 2008 11:41 I must say did not like the last one , but this one I must admit was quite good. Nothing like the old type of james bond that I remember( alas 50) but in its own right it is quite refreshing and the story is very good I would say give it a chance you mihjt be surprrised I was and the action shots are really very good I must admit miss some of the gadgests but hey we all have to move on

Report as inappropriate
C Jackson said...

Posted on Nov 22 2008 11:17 I would direct any readers to the comment made by J.W. Riely - the report here is absolutely spot on...

Report as inappropriate
radish said...

Posted on Nov 22 2008 08:42 well im going t watch it today and im nt sure is it a waste of money?

Report as inappropriate
radish said...

Posted on Nov 22 2008 08:42 well im going t watch it today and im nt sure is it a waste of money?

Report as inappropriate
radish said...

Posted on Nov 22 2008 08:42 well im going t watch it today and im nt sure is it a waste of money?

Report as inappropriate
radish said...

Posted on Nov 22 2008 08:42 well im going t watch it today and im nt sure is it a waste of money?

Report as inappropriate
radish said...

Posted on Nov 22 2008 08:42 well im going t watch it today and im nt sure is it a waste of money

Report as inappropriate
radish said...

Posted on Nov 22 2008 08:42 well im going t watch it today and im nt sure is it a waste of money

Report as inappropriate
J. W. Riley said...

Posted on Nov 21 2008 12:06 Daniel Craig is as impressive as before. However, Bond’s attempts at verbal humor are somewhat unsuccessful in this film. Craig’s characterization of Bond is too serious (and rightfully so) for these kinds of poorly scripted remarks, and this made them seem unbelievable. That aside, the film is, for the most part, well structured but lacked that Ian Fleming magic which is so evident in films like the excellent Casino Royale or the tightly scripted Goldfinger. The aerial combat sequence is expertly directed and edited but some of the earlier set pieces were difficult to absorb due to the closeness of the camera to the action and the overly frenetic Bourne-style type of editing. Additionally, I found the age of the Strawberry Fields character (the minor Bond girl role) to be rather irksome. She was far too young to be sent to pick up an MI6 agent, which only served to highlight the implausibility of her character. For the most part, I thought Quantum of Solace was an intelligent and perhaps arty addition to the Bond franchise although too similar to the Bourne films in various respects. The filmmakers need to be very careful of this. They are extraordinarily fortunate to find an actor like Daniel Craig, who so expertly brings James Bond to life. It would be a shame to waste his abilities on Bond films that imitate other action movies. My advice is to keep in line with Ian Fleming’s stories as much as possible. Only then will the old Bond magic return. But well done again, Daniel Craig.

Report as inappropriate