Quantum of Solace *** (2008, Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright) – Classic Movie Review 844

Daniel Craig returns for his second turn as James Bond in the direct sequel to the 2006 Casino Royale, concluding its story. In the 22nd 007 film, directed by Marc Forster in 2008, Bond seeks revenge for the death of his lover, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green).

He’s assisted by the glamorous Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko), out for revenge for the murder of her family. The trail leads to wealthy businessman Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a member of the Quantum organisation. He’s plotting a coup d’état in Bolivia to seize control of the country’s water supply.

Producer Michael G. Wilson developed the new plot while Casino Royale was being filmed, taking the awkward title from a 1959 short story in Ian Fleming’s For Your Eyes Only, though the film has no elements of the original story. The globe-trotting filming took place in Mexico, Panama, Chile, Italy, Austria and Wales, as well as at Pinewood Studios.

Quantum of Solace is middling latter-day Bond, with some good and meticulous work but also some weak and mediocre work gnawing away at it. It’s mainly notable for the well-staged, gritty action sequences, location glamour and product placement, as well as Craig’s ultra-tough performance as a coolly ruthless killer, though he’s still just a top-class conventional action hero and not really James Bond.

Dan Bradley is the hero in the action department, hired as second unit director after his work on the second and third Bourne films, and he does a grand job. Director Forster goes for realism with realistic villains, a dark tone and lots of violence throughout. That realism, of course, is bought at the expense of the humour and quips of the old Bond movies, and they are much missed.

With a muddled screenplay, neither the plot nor the characters are by any means the best ever in a 007 movie. A Chinatown-style Bond plot about control of the water supply and focusing on environmentalism might be right on, realistic and contemporary, but it just isn’t that exciting. Amalric’s Dominic Greene is a notably dull, unmemorable villain. Kurylenko’s Camille Montes is striking but also unmemorable.

So, overall, Quantum of Solace ends up entertaining enough but being a step or two down from Casino Royale.

Followed by Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015).

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 844

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