28th November, 2008

DAVID ADAMS

Quantum of Solace (M)

In A Word: Grim

OK, I’ll confess it. I miss the old, more fun loving James Bond. Sure, Bond was always a spy but part of the point of the Bond movies was that they weren’t a serious take on the world of espionage. This new Bond did seem to make the crossover work in Casino Royale but his latest outing, Quantum of Solace, lacks...something.

Sure, Quantum of Solace is stylishly shot, hard-edged and full of action but where’s the humour? Bond himself (played again by Daniel Craig) barely cracks a smile as he blasts his way across the screen taking down a host of bad guys in a storyline that seems driven by a need to complicate everything as much as possible while filling the screen with relentless action.

It doesn’t help that this latest Bond opens just after the last one finished - in that sense, this is a true Bond sequel - but if you can’t remember anything much about the last one (hey, it was 2006!), then be prepared to be left a little in the dark while you endeavour to catch up.

And in a trend that seems to be creeping into action movies these days, some of the action occurs at such a fast pace that it’s hard for the eye to keep up and rather than see each scene, you’re left with an impression of what went on.

The storyline follows the usual Bond script - this time it’s the ironically named environmental terrorist Dominic Greene (played by Mathieu Amalric) who is attempting to squeeze what he can out of Bolivia while ostensibly supporting a new would-be dictator. Bond, of course, ends up doing what he can to stop this (with the aid of his 'friend' Mathis - played by Giancarlo Giannini) while also confronting his own inner demons and, of course, upsetting the powers that be - particularly the interfering CIA - as he does so.

Dame Judi Dench returns in her role as M - a role which she carries well - but there’s sadly no Q and the movie isn’t really enhanced by Olga Kurylenko as a well-tanned Latin American, Camille, in a role which doesn’t quite create the empathy one suspects it should.

Even the bad guys seemed to lack something here - sure Greene is nasty, but he’s nothing on Goldfinger when it comes to oddity.

It’s been suggested that there’s more than a little of Jason Bourne in this new Bond and that’s true - Bond is no longer the Bond we once knew but a harder, more relentless, sadder person. It’s certainly true that Bond has moved away from Ian Fleming’s original vision - and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, given Bond’s often misogynist views about, well, everything - but the new incarnation certainly isn’t any more uplifting.

Coming after the excellent Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace is a step backwards. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of where the franchise is heading.

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