There’s not much solace to be found in Quantum of Solace, something of a disappointment following the revolutionary Casino Royale
“Bond, if you could avoid killing every possible lead, it would be deeply appreciated”
After Casino Royale did so much properly reboot the Bond franchise with the arrival of Daniel Craig, it is hard not to feel a little disappointed with its follow-up Quantum of Solace, which is almost a direct sequel, following through on some key plot points as it does. We catch up with Bond deep in the throes of grief and betrayal after the Vesper Lynd of it all, as he winds up in the middle of a plot to steal the water in Bolivia.
Marc Foster’s direction pushes the gritty realism of Craig’s special agent but in the midst of breathlessly edited action sequences, there’s really very little comprehensible story-telling going on which ends making the film rather dull. Mathieu Amalric’s Greene is sadly a washout of a villain but we do see the move to pushing Judi Dench’s M to the fore which allows her and Craig to flesh out the one true relationship that matters now, and which will pay off brilliantly next time around.
Bond women
So much good work undone. Gemma Arterton gets to join the club of preposterously named women who get killed pretty soon after sharing Bond’s bed, Strawberry Fields forever indeed. At least, Olga Kurylenko’s Camille is allowed some agency as she pursues her own vendetta
Theme song
This Bond apparently has a thing for men playing guitars and so we’re lumbered with Jack White’s ‘Another Way To Die’ which follows in the footsteps of its predecessor as being a dull as ditchwater rock song, even with Alicia Keys in tow as a duet partner. And to think that we could have had Amy Winehouse (who apparently submitted a demo with Mark Ronson but wasn’t “ready to record any music” at that time).
