QUANTUM OF SOLACE Film Review - 30/10/08

As a hard-core Bond fan having watched all the James Bond films on the big screen since 1974's "The Man With The Golden Gun" I was lucky enough to get tickets for the Bond Premiere and eagerly awaited the continuing success after "Casino Royale" with the return of Daniel Craig in "Quantum Of Solace". Taking my seat for the performance and starting with a rather short but riveting car chase as the opener it then slid like a sack of shit straight down to the bottom of the cess-pit! A caterwauling Alicia Keys mangled the title tune (If you can call it that!) against the horrendous title sequence. By the end of the film I realised I had not been watching a Bond film at all - Apart from a promising roof-top chase and some later action sequences the story (Which was all over the place) seemed rather cobbled together and in some sections really slow. If you interpret the re-fashioning of Bond going on here it seems that a lot of the loyal audience will fall by the wayside. Even the lack lustre poster which usually has fast cars, women, villains and explosions is missing - With just a sedate pose from the leads looking more desolate than anything. Vast gaps in this new reality change of Bond leave so many things unanswered that by the end not only will you be bewildered - But bloody annoyed! You also have scenes played out against different backdrops with the action going on in two locations at the same time - Extremely irritating! Technically it is flawless - But it isn't a Bond film and comes over as a gritty thriller and nothing else and not much of a good one at that. I expected a revamped formula but unfortunately thrillers these days are now ten a penny!

Kicking off more or less after the end of "Casino Royale" Bond interrogates his suspect and things suddenly go awry - Catching onto some new leads he finds himself heading around some choice locations throughout the world (In a something and nothing manner) has a couple of dust-ups amidst the sinister shenanigans of the Quantum Organisation and then the plot peters out. A major disappointment!!