At the Movies: Quantum of Solace
by Bill Dusty
School has kept me busy this past week, so I’ll keep things going here with a little review of the latest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace:
Actor Daniel Craig reprises his role of the famous Ian Flemming British super-spy, James Bond, in this semi-sequel to Craig’s debut appearance as Bond in Casino Royale. Unlike Royale, a Flemming original novel, this film was created solely for film, and perhaps with Craig in mind as Bond.
The movie starts out with a car chase scene and ends with spectacular explosions in the desert. Pretty deep stuff. People should be forewarned that this movie hardly takes the time for much by way of a plot development. It’s kill, kill, kill for much of the film. Against the backdrop of a secret organization trying to take over a South American country’s resources, Bond is repeatedly warned by his boss, M (played by actress Judy Dench), to stop killing suspects. Unfortunately for the suspects, however, events routinely conspire to prevent him from doing this. There are also quite a few references to the female character “Vesper,” who died in the Royale film. For folks who haven’t scene that earlier movie, this can be distracting.
Craig comes off as a cold-spirited Bond – cruel, even. Comparing him to other actors who have played James Bond, Craig seems more Sean Connery than Roger Moore, or more Timothy Dalton than Pierce Brosnan. Perhaps the actor he may resemble the most, however, is George Lazenby (On her Majesty’s Secret Service). That’s not a criticism, just an observation of character style. Craig is not “cute” with the bad guys. He doesn’t smile mischievously to the ladies. In fact, it takes him an hour into the movie before he sleeps with a woman (an admiring British agent). Bond barely sniffs the leading lady, Camille (played by Ukrainian actress Olga Kurylenko), managing only a kiss at the end. Children, cover your eyes.
In this film, actress Judy Dench once again takes on the role of the secret service boss, M. I was never a huge fan of Dench’s portrayal. Her role is a nod to feminism more than anything else. But even then, I think there are other, more domineering women than Dench who could better carry off the role. She looks too much like someone’s grandmother. It’s been reported that Dench wants out as M in the Bond flicks. Bond producer Barbara Broccoli – daughter of original Bond producer Albert Broccoli – is against it. But I hope Dench gets her wish.
American CIA agent Felix Leiter makes an appearance in Solace. Leiter’s role in the film seems more of a chore than an actual need, however. We barely get to know his motivations – other than thinking Bond should live. He wasn’t much of a help to Bond, either, except for once telling him to “move.” Otherwise, Leiter seems to spend much of his time quietly trying to figure out if his partner is screwing him.
The Bond girl in Solace is ably portrayed by Olga Kurylenko. Her character, though, seems more like Bond’s grown-up daughter than a possible love interest. With all of the gun play and explosions in the film, though, there was probably too little time for hanky-panky, anyway. Kurylenko herself took some heat from a rabid St. Petersburg, Russia, Communist Party for portraying a Bond girl. “The Soviet Union educated you, cared for you and brought you up for free but no one suspected that you would commit this act of intellectual and moral betrayal,” the Party’s website is quoted as fuming. Give it a break, guys. It’s not like she slept with him. Hell, she doesn’t even play a Ukrainian in the film.
Quantum of Solace is certainly no From Russia with Love, nor even a Live and Let Die. It is decidedly better than the Dalton films, though. The two-and-a-half stars that other reviewers have laid on Solace seems a bit low. Still, I’d give it a solid three stars, at most. The movie should have spent a bit more time in developing the plot, and it also could have created something more interesting for CIA agent Leiter to do other than brood.
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