A Small 'Quantum' of Bond Thrills

by Brett Parker

There’s a big problem I became all too aware of as I watched Quantum of Solace, the latest installment in the James Bond franchise: the film seems more interested in looking like a Bourne film than a Bond one. Of course, there’s plenty here you’d expect in a Bond film: action scenes, sexy women, Daniel Craig’s undeniable coolness. Yet it seems curiously devoid of the usual fun and excitement we feel towards the franchise. What we have here is a spy thriller built on darkness and realism when what we want is a Bond adventure built on exhilarating escapism.

The film picks up moments after the last installment, Casino Royale, ended, with Bond furious over the betrayal and death of his love, Vesper, and capturing the icy villain, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen). Bond and his agency interrogate Mr. White and discover the existence of a shadowy organization known as QUANTUM, a group with “people everywhere” bent on world domination. As he travels around the world to investigate this group, Bond uncovers a plot to control Bolivia’s water supply, led by the slithery Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). With help from a vengeful beauty named Camille (Olga Kurylenko) and old ally Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), Bond sets out to stop Greene and find some kind of closure with his feelings over Vesper.

Casino Royale was not only my choice for the best film of 2004 but was probably the greatest James Bond film I ever saw. Director Martin Campbell wonderfully crafted a film that not only honored and perfected the Bond conventions we’ve come to love, but also focused on human drama within the material we never truly sensed before. For the first time ever, Bond seemed like a real human being with feelings and demons. He wasn’t just an action figure, but a conflicted soul capable of deep rage and love. The presence of Daniel Craig as Bond proved to be electric. He embodied a sense of danger and sensuality not sensed in the role for years. He is the best Bond since Sean Connery and I think he comes within an inch of overthrowing the Scotsman to become the best Bond ever.

Marc Forster may have seemed like an unlikely choice to direct the latest Bond installment, but at the time it seemed like a promising decision. Forster has spent his career directing intimate character pieces (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland, The Kite Runner) that span different canvases and genres. Clearly, the producers wanted to expand on the dramatic complexities Royale presented and felt Foster could bring his intimate touch to 007 himself. So I’m in awe of what a misfire Quantum of Solace is, for it appears that Forster’s directing may be the source of the problem. Forster has stated in interviews that he was never really much of a Bond fan before taking on this project and it really shows. Most of the things we love about the Bond genre (the double entendres, the suavity, the colorful villains with buffoonish schemes, sexy time with suggestive Bond girls) have either been discarded or seriously dulled-down. Worse yet, the character depths of Bond have gone completely out the window.

Forster’s main concern seems to be merging Bond into a Jason Bourne picture. By that, I mean the film mainly focuses on the treacheries and complexities of a global organization as well as breakneck, high octane actions sequences. Forster stages these action scenes with the same herky-jerky visual style of the Bourne pictures yet they don’t feel as effective or as significant. Martin Campbell showed a stronger technical elegance with Royale, allowing the audience to observe the action from a considerable distance yet still being able to feel the intensity of it. I think it’s a mistake to smother a Bond film with relentless action. It’s considerably more fun to watch Bond seduce women and charm his way through exotic parlors than to crash cars and run from explosions.

What’s more disappointing is the fact that the wonderful Daniel Craig seems restrained by the banal script this time out. He is not allowed to explore the character or have fun with it the way he did last time. Craig can play Bond’s suavity and humor to absolute perfection, yet this time he’s forced to be an introverted action figure. There’s dramatic moments here and there, but nothing even touches the moment in Royale where Bond confronts himself in a bathroom mirror after killing two men. He does what he can with what he’s got and it’s a testament to his talents that he basically saves this film. Craig is too much of a high-wattage talent to numb down and he proves that he can stand strong in a mediocre and shaky Bond film. This man is a true movie star.

As for the rest of the cast, they’re effective yet pale in comparison to the memorable performances from Royale. Kurylenko is a true beauty, yet the mysterious sexiness and intelligence of Eva Green is sorely missed. Amalric reaches greatly to create a deliciously eccentric Bond villain, yet he lacks the compelling creepiness Mads Mikkelsen displayed so naturally as Le Chiffre. I realize it may seem a bit unfair to hold Quantum of Solace up to the greatness of Casino Royale, but Solace also feels less entertaining than the more disposable Bonds. Die Another Day, for example, may have been a shark-jumping video game, but at least Bond’s loveable charm and wit was in full volume.

Strangely enough, I find myself recommending the film. It does have its strong points. Despite the annoying need to copy the Bourne style, some action scenes do prove thrilling, such as the opening car chase and a struggle with a henchman on construction ropes. Gemma Arterton conveys a surprising cuteness and innocence as Bond girl Strawberry Fields (love that name), making you wish she had more screen time. The opening animated titles are some of the best the series’ ever had and even though I had my reservations at first about Jack White and Alicia Keys’ opening tune, “Another Way to Die,” the song has truly begun to grow on me. It feels like any Bond movie with Daniel Craig in the role can’t ever really be bad. I guess a mediocre Bond film is better than, say, a really good Resident Evil movie, if you feel where I’m coming from.

So we can chalk this up as one of the lesser Bond pictures, although I wouldn’t go so far as to call it one of the failures. I hope the next time Craig comes out the gate, the filmmakers allow Bond to be funnier, more suave, more willing to take girls to bed. There’s a reason moviegoers have cherished Bond for so long and the filmmakers shouldn’t shy away from the escapist flavoring the franchise was built on. As Martin Campbell demonstrated, the genre can have the best of both worlds. I found real hope with the film’s final shot though; perhaps the Bond we truly love will return to form soon enough.

Before I go, I want to bring attention to two things: (1) Quantum of Solace is NOT a bad title for a Bond film. Just because it’s not the easiest thing to roll off the tongue, we have to knock it? If it was good enough for Ian Fleming, it’s good enough for the Bond franchise. Deal with it. And (2) how come Bond doesn’t get to say his famous line, “Bond…James Bond?” It’s not uttered once, at all, throughout the film. How can you possibly make a James Bond picture without that line? What an outrage! Marc Foster should be fined for this!