When “Casino Royale” was released two years ago, we were introduced to a new, raw and brutal Bond. Daniel Craig played Ian Fleming’s famous secret agent to near perfection, sculpting a new Bond for the “Bourne” generation.
Many were relieved by this unexpected and fresh take on a tired character. But while Craig’s emotional and compelling performance was the icing on the cake of “Royale’s” fresh plot, his performance in the sequel “Quantum of Solace” is simply the saving grace of a film that retreats back to the old Bond movies cliches.
In the series’ 22nd film, which takes place only hours after “Royale” ends, Bond is on a mission to find out everything about the organization that blackmailed his dead love Vesper. The group is called QUANTUM, and its leader Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) is out to take control of a country’s water supply so he can dominate the world.
It’s the type of lame plot we expect from the typical Bond movie but not what we would expect from the same people who helped transform the franchise into the more realistic world we saw in “Royale.”
“Quantum of Solace” may be the first Bond movie where Bond himself has less dialogue than his co-stars. In fact, it’s not even the villain who speaks the most, but Bond’s boss “M” (played again by Judi Dench in another great turn).
The lack of 007’s dialogue is annoying at times, especially considering he’s the only character in the film with a real soul. Yet, in other scenes, his silence feels necessary, if a bit out of the norm for Bond. It’s a true testament to Craig’s acting ability to pull us inside the psyche of Bond without saying much.
Unfortunately, the story is not on the same par as Craig. Although the fact that this Bond film actually continues a story line from its predecessor is a welcome change, the weaknesses here show that perhaps Bond plots are best contained in separate movies.
Other than Bond’s determined vengeance for the death of his only love, other plot points carried over from “Royale” are stretched to the breaking point and are admittedly hard to follow.
Many of the action scenes are edited together weirdly, or in the case of the opening car chase scene, barely tie together with the plot. However, chase sequences involving a plane and boat, as well as a literally-flaming climax, are truly exciting.
It’s unfair to expect this Bond outing to be on the same level of the near-flawless “Royale.” That said, it seems the filmmakers have forgotten some of the reasons why that movie was so great: Bond beating his opponents not by his strength, but by his wits.
