Daniel Craig returns as Britain’s top secret agent in another action-packed 007 quest, QUANTUM OF SOLACE.Bond’s latest adventure has him attempting to avenge the death of a friend, while also infiltrating an underground organization that appears to be far more mysterious and dangerous than Bond or “M” could have imagined. Bond’s nemesis this turn is Dominic Greene, a ruthless businessman, using the guise of an environmental organization in order to seize portions of third world countries.
QUANTUM OF SOLACE continues the darker tone of the most recent Bond escapade, CASINO ROYALE, but fails to continue the rich character examination that ROYALE began to lay out. Instead QUANTUM OF SOLACE falls into a familiar pattern for the Bond series, one that may be commercially successful, but has failed to bring much excitement to the decades old franchise.
The film’s pacing is frantic, so much so, that one wonders if director Marc Forster was taking a page out of Paul Greengrass’s BOURNE playbook. Regardless, QUANTUM OF SOLACE benefits from the energized tempo, not only in the action sequences, but also the locales as 007 visits Italy, Austria, Chile, Panama and Mexico. The unique backdrops help to keep the focus off the convoluted plot, and engineer some unique scenery for Bond and enemies to shoot or blow up. Forster, not know for the action genre, presents a mixed bag. The opening car chase is too manic to follow, but a combat scene on some high-rise scaffolding provides one of the best action scenes from a Bond film in years.
Despite a few moments of genuine excitement, QUANTUM OF SOLACE remains content on serving up a familiar dish to its hungry fans, one which I haven’t had a great deal of taste for.
Grade: C+
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