Quantum Of Solace

Vital Stats:

Title: Quantum Of Solace
Length: 115 minutes(approx)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright


Plot: Picking up from where Casino Royale left this movie sees Bond going after the mysterious shadowy organization that lead to Vesper's betrayal. However he and M. soon realizes that the organization that they are dealing with is far more complex, dangerous and mysterious than their worst nightmares. During the course of his pursuit he encounters Dominice Green (Mathieu) an environmentalist who is neck buried in some of the most destructive and dangerous deals liaising with the rich and powerful of the west and causing mayhem in third world countries like Bolivia etc. No country is sane or safe enough. Be it the CIA or the MI6 they are all dancing on Green's tunes. On a journey that takes Bond through Austria, South America and Italy Bond must uncover as much as he can about the shadowy organization he set out to uncover and stop Green in his dark plans.


My Psychobabble: This fellows is a real tough one. Overall I liked the movie. It was fast paced, the action is awesome and no matter how much I loathed Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, in this one the dude has really (and literally) punched his niche. His portrayal of a man who is so fuelled by such fierce rage that it doesn't let him prone to angry outbursts or screams but that silently burns within him, fuelling him beyond the limits of his human abilities is simply awesome. His demeanor is candid, he is totally devoid of emotions and he is what the rage has made him - a high octane stripped down to bare essentials killing machine with a rock solid sense of purpose. Gone are those witty one liners in the face of death, the awesome gadgets and the lovely ladies.

And that my dear readers is a problem - at least with some critics!

The legend of Bond is being changed as we see it. Have no doubts, Daniel Craig's character in the movie is totally awesome but he is not "Bond" as we are used to see him. This Bond doesn't indulge himself in vanity, has no patience for unnecessary banter and has absolutely no need of any gadget apart from a gun and a phone (with a camera of course!). This is more like Jason Bourne than Bond. One reason for this that I could think of was that Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace started telling the tale of the real shaping of a MI6 agent as the "Bond" and thus maybe in the next few movies we shall see Bond returning to his better known antics. However how well that would go down with Daniel Craig will be interesting to watch.


Besides the action and Daniel Craig's portrayal of Bond the movie is quiet week. The plot and the script are haphazard and don’t answer a single question that the movie sets out to answer. In fact at times it became so confusing that I really had to ask myself, what the fock is going on and how the fock is this related to anything that was initially proposed!

Taken as a whole the movie is a sort of awkward, badly designed end product stumbling and tripping in a hell lot of places. Olga and Gemma have almost no character in the film. A very weak effort is still visible to give Olga's character some substance but it has failed completely. The characters that looked promising in Casino Royale as important to the overall story are quickly shot to death and dismissed in this one. The movie on the whole almost loses its sense of purpose by the climax. It could very well be titled "Daniel Craig's Action Antics" and be shown as a small part of a modern day circus instead of the more common bike racing in the Well of Death.


Verdict: I certainly do not regret watching this one. If you can manage to keep the Bond stigma away and not think too much you will actually enjoy the movie. The actions, cinematography, shooting locations are awesome so are most of the actors in the portrayal of their characters. The movie is certainly enjoyable and who knows I might as well go again!