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Monday, December 1, 2008

Movie Review – Quantum of Solace (2008)

My first movie review. Probably won’t be too often because I have two young children and my wife and I don’t have time to go to the movies often, We did go out last night, however, to see the new James Bond flick, “Quantum of Solace”. Since this is my first crack at a review, if I gave away any critical plotlines, please forgive.

“Quantum of Solace” is moodier and darker than its predecessor, “Casino Royale”. Daniel Craig reprises his role as James Bond. His gives Bond a harder edge, rough looking, ruthless character than the previous Bonds incarnations, but stills looks suave and debonair in his custom suits. Craig brings the series into the realm of the current spy offerings, such as the Bourne series, with quick over the top action sequences and minus the campiness of the previous Bond offerings. In “Quantum of Solace”, Bond struggles with an inner conflict of revenge for the killing of Vesper, his love interest from “Casino Royale” versus performing his job in the manner which he is supposed to, completely detached from emotions. This conflict takes a toll on Bond, as he doesn’t sleep too much and all his adversaries end up dyeing by his hand. The movies picks up immediately after the end of “Casino Royale”. It opens with a car chase through the Italian town of Siena, with his Aston Martin DBS taking a beating again, and ends with a chase across the rooftops as the Palio di Siena, a horse race around the Piazza del Campo, takes place below. All very unbelievable, but very entertaining, never the less.

The villain, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) is an environmental CEO whose true motives are more economical. He is part of a secretive worldwide organization that has people in high levels of all governments, and who can overthrow and install new political regimes.

Returning from “Casino Royale”, in smaller roles, are Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) and Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright). The Bond Girls, typically, are stunning. Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton), looking like she just stepped off a Burberry catwalk, is a dispatch from the British consulate in Bolivia who is no match for the smooth Bond. Within 10 minutes of arriving at their 5 star hotel, they are in bed together. More intriguing is Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a feisty vixen who is driven by her own desire for revenge. This shared inner rage is the connection between her and Bond, though it does not lead to any sexual liaison between the two.

The plotline takes the movie to many exotic locales, from Italy and Haiti, to the Bolivian desert, to name a few. It also lends itself to continue into the next installment of the series. The secret organization is not yet exposed and the key players of it are still at large.

All in all, an enjoyable movie, with plenty of action and a decent plotline. So does Bond get rid of his inner demons? Let’s just say that he should not have any trouble sleeping at night any longer.

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