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Resources » Entertainment » Movie Reviews »
Quantum of Solace(2008) : A movie review
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Solace means comfort in the times of distress and despair. This is what Bond and Bond girl seek in this new film based on Ian Fleming’s well known character.
‘Quantum of solace’ is essentially a sequel to the previous Bond film released in 2006 ‘Casino Royale’, but the plot is much more complicated. The film was highly anticipated and it was visible in the opening of the film. The film opened with the best opening of any Bond film so far, grossing $67.5 millions in the 1st weekend. The film’s total box office collections stand at $575 millions which are second only to Casino Royale.
‘Casino Royale’ was a big critical and commercial success. Though the films of previous James Bond Pierce Brosnan including his last one ‘Die another day’ (2002) had done quite well at the box office, a need was felt to reboot the franchise and inject it with some new elements. The result was Casino Royale which was accepted worldwide.
There were a number of reasons behind this makeover of Bond films but the biggest reason perhaps was the change in the perception of the world by the film makers of Hollywood post 9/11. The world trade center attack brought a lot of change in the film making of USA. The topicality began to replace pure fictional stories and the iconic characters like Superman, Spider man and Batman became more a human with extraordinary powers rather than supernatural creatures. A fragile human side was associated with them which people could identify with since the 9/11 attacks had shattered the deep sleep of USA and they had finally woken up to reality.
James Bond too had to change since Britain too had its share of reality bite in the form of terrorist attacks in 2005. Bond’s human side came into prominence as was evident in Casino Royale. He also became rough- tough and aggressive, a stark contrast to the old Bonds which were suave, elegant and were a care free spirit. Daniel Craig’s Bond was liked by the critics and public alike and the film became the highest grossing Bond film ever. 2 years later Craig returns in a role which made him a star from obscurity.
The film begins with a car chase in Italy where Bond is taking Mr. White with him to interrogate, whom he had captured in the final scene of ‘Casino Royale’. It is revealed that White is a member of a clandestine organization ‘Quantum’ about which very little is known. Before they could get more information from white, a double agent working as M’s private bodyguard attacks them giving white an opportunity to flee. Bond then kills the bodyguard and an investigation of his apartment reveals his connection with a hit man in Haiti. Upon reaching Haiti Bond kills the hit man and then comes to know that he was paid to kill Camille (Olga) by her own lover Dominic Greene.
Greene is a chairman of an ecological organization called Greene planet. Bond rescues Camille and gets further information about Greene. It seems he is an important member of Quantum and might lead to the person who had forced Vesper (Eva Green) to betray him. Bond’s actions begin to create trouble since the persons he is taking actions against are powerful VIPs. Even M is forced to give an order to arrest Bond and take him back to London. But Bond isn’t in any sort of mood to take her orders tills he find the truth behind the Quantum and locate the lover of Vesper who had been the reason of her betrayal.
Craig continues to function like a human killing machine in the new film but this time with an added element of revenge. The last time when Bond had made vengeance his motto the film had sank at the box office. The film was ‘License to kill’ (1989) starring Timothy Dalton. No new Bond film was released after that for 6 years till ‘Golden Eye’ (1995) was released. This time there is no debacle like the 1989 film but still it feels like something is missing.
The big problem with the film is that it is more of a ‘Bourne film’ (From The Bourne series starring Matt Damon) rather than a ‘Bond film’. In a bid to carry forward the Bond story in the similar fashion as the previous one the director eliminates the rest of the elements associated with Bond films completely, few of which were left in Casino Royale. So, apart from His name and ‘M’ there is nothing in the film one can associate Bond with. The very significant elements of Bond legacy like Fast cars, Hi-Fi gadgets and hot girls are missing. Even his legendary lines ‘I’m Bond, James Bond’ is not there. Bringing changes for good is one thing and revamping the entire thing is a different matter. In this film Bond loses his identity completely and falls in the no man’s land between the characters of Jason Bourne and James Bond.
If we forget this identity crisis for a while and concentrate on the film as a whole, we find that it is good. The director takes up a very topical issue i.e. of water crisis and combines it with the world politics. The director takes inspiration from these lines we have so often heard – “The next world war will be over water and not oil”.
The film begins on a thrilling note with a car chase through the tunnels of Italy and the action & adventure continues for the next two hours. The script doesn’t have many inconsistencies and so the film never loses the steam. The Bond girl Olga and the Bond villain aren’t iconic and won’t be remembered much in the history unlike their previous counterparts. But it isn’t their fault since this film is completely different from the older Bond films. The action scenes, though not memorable, have been fit in the script quite well.
The film focuses more on the human side of Bond that was faintly visible in the climax of casino Royale. Here he is a one man army with zero remorse for what he is doing. Craig has a raw look so the film is more suitable for him but unlike previous film this doesn’t give him opportunity to explore his acting talents. The film is commendable for giving ‘M’ (Judi Dench) a much better written role than the previous 5 films.
The next bond film will again carry the same story forward. Now since Bond has completed his quest and is at peace, we can expect some part of older Bonds returning in the upcoming film.
I give this film 3 out of 5 stars.
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