It's long been paradoxically said that the only thing in life that's constant is change. In nature, and at least as far as life forms are concerned, that's all about survival. Until perfection is established, species must change to thrive.
The same holds true in the world of business, including that of moviemaking. While the James Bond films have been around seemingly forever (or 46 years -- yikes! -- in real calendar terms), they're constantly evolving, both in terms of performers in the lead role as well as tone. One need only compare the Sean Connery to Roger Moore installments to see that in action.
And with Bond boy Daniel Craig doing his sophomore stint as 007 in "Quantum of Solace," one can easily view the series in the midst of evolving once again, even if this time it's into something resembling the Jason Bourne action flicks. Granted, Bond started taking a licking in the latter Pierce Brosnan versions and then went full-bore with that in "Casino Royale" (the 2006 installment and not the campy 1967 one).
That enhanced realism continues here under the direction of Marc Forster ("The Kite Runner," "Monster's Ball") who works from a script by Paul Haggis and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade. And in what I believe is a first, this offering is a direct sequel to its predecessor, taking up not long after the previous film ended with Bond's apparent turncoat girlfriend drowning in a big and, natch, spectacular action set piece.
All of which means this turns out to be a revenge pic, not only for Bond trying to figure out the truth behind Vesper's death (and unnecessarily spending too much time talking about her when she wasn't more than a one-movie character to whom viewers had little to no attachment and thus not much interest in hearing her name repeated time and again), but also via new "Bond girl" Camille (Olga Kurylenko) who wants to avenge her family's murder at the hands of General Medrano (Joaquin Cosio).
And he's only villain number two, although Mathieu Amalric as the primary one, a businessman whose company is really a front for his nefarious plans, is fairly weak in terms of concept and executed performance. Judi Dench returns as Bond's boss, M, and her devolving relationship with her increasingly rogue subordinate does add some gravitas to the proceedings, as well as a much-needed break (with decent dramatic performances from the two) from all of the action sequences.
Speaking of which, they're a mixed bag of just about every sort of movie chase imaginable. Following the opening car pursuit sequence (complete with machine guns, sharp turns and steep drop-offs), there are ones on foot (including along rooftops), in boats, and even one in the skies, fulfilling the apparently required land, sea and air quotas.
Once the over-edited and directed first one is out of the way, the rest are competently handled, but Forster appears to be simply copying the "Bourne" approach for some of them, particularly in regard to the brutal and hyper realistic hand-to-hand fight scenes.
And that's perhaps the film's biggest drawback -- it simply doesn't feel original. Granted, after a gazillion or so installments, novelty would be a difficult task to accomplish. Nonetheless, there's nothing new here, which is something of a cinematic crime considering that's what used to make most of the Bond films so entertaining to watch (be that in terms of opening action sequences, gadgets, innuendo and quips, etc.).
In fact, this feels the least like a Bond flick of perhaps all of the offerings and is missing a crucial element for fans of the series -- and that's a sense of fun. Saving for the opening title sequence (with silhouetted ladies swaying to and fro while the latest pop act performs their number), the James and M characters, and the story skipping around various world locales, there's little here that signals this is a Bond film. Even the signature i.d. piece -- the moving aperture lens around James as he walks, turns, and shoots his gun as the uber-familiar Bond notes play -- seems thrown in at the very end just to remind viewers about what they're watching.
But that's the problem with evolution -- you have to take the good with the bad and realize that things won't be the same and might not ever return there. While I appreciated what they did in "Casino Royale" and Craig's portrayal of the iconic character, the overall offering is less entertaining this time around as it's seemingly just been Bourne again. "Quantum of Solace" rates as a 5 out of 10.
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