Re: Quantum of Solace Review
We had a car chase, a boat chase, a plane chase, a foot chase, a minor motorcycle chase. I mean damn. I felt like I was watching a compilation of the past Bond movies crammed into one film. We had a scene paying homage Goldfinger; painting the girl in oil and leaving her on the bed. I can't say I approve of them axing Mathis. I thought he was a superb character, and I was kind of hoping he would fill the shoes of the always wonderful Valentin Zukovsky. And then there was the non-stop action, which did have some "Bourne-isms." The interior complex at the end of the film reminded me of the interior of the bank from Goldfinger. That is two, count'em, two cinema-lifts from Goldfinger (at least).
I guess...I guess a lot of scenes felt like they were paying tribute to old Bond films.
But here's my thoughts: my two favorite Bonds are still Brosnan and Connery. I understand that people dislike Brosnan because he lacks the physical aspect of Bond. But I like his personality, and personality goes a lonnnnnngggggg way. I want directors to move past the "blunt object" description that M gave Craig in Casino Royale. I get it. Craig is ripped. Craig is a badass, mother fuckin' James Bond. He can beat the shit out of you. But he also has a pretty impressive (dare I say suave?) personality. Honestly, my favorite parts in Quantum of Solace were when Bond was conversing, snooping, and not doing action scenes. I quite enjoyed Layer Cake, a movie where I thought Craig got to flex some of his charm. Also, I understand that Bond has a LICENSE TO KILL, but the killing scenes were COLD. Like, Bourne cold only colder. The scene where Bond killed the guy on the balcony. That was brutal. I understand it might resonate more with Flemming's Bond, but this is cinema, escapism. Ya ya ya ya.
Where do we go from here?
-Next movie they should try to make a Bond film (okay, sounds cliche)
-Bring back the Q department
-Bring back the female character motif (largely missing from this film but it's a minor criticism)
-Bring back the Evil Bad Guy's side kick. Where is Jaws or Oddjob.
-More Felix (I absolutely love Jeffrey Wright)
-M needs to stop being such a bitch. Seriously didn't Bond save her life, take care of Le Chiffre, and all that?
-Bond needs to be slightly less cold when he kills people.
-Fire director Marc Forster. Seriously. The cinematography was a fucking mess for a good 1/3 of the film. This is B-O-N-D. Not B-O-U-R-N-E.
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I'm still giving this sucker 2 or 2.5 stars. So obviously I enjoyed a good portion of the movie.
Things I really liked:
-Mathis
-Felix Leiter
-Miss "Fields" (Strawberry Fields...LOL...GET IT?!?!?)
-Dominic Greene and his evil plot
-The stadium/play scene (we actually got to see Craig's suave, humorous side)
-The initial encounter Bond has with Camille when he takes the place of the assassin (again, we got to see Craig's personality rather than his choreographed bluntness)
-The film as a whole (but, was this a BOND film? hmm...)
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Things I think I liked but I am not really sure of:
-painting the girl in oil. Homage or not, Auric Goldfinger might be pissed.
My own personal note. The Bond chicks were both gorgeous, as was Bond's watch and car.
Conclusion: me and BAB have a lot to discuss.
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