I heard and read a lot of negative comments about this film when it opened, but hey, we’ve seen all the other James Bond movies. Had to watch this one, too. And while it’s far from my favorite in the series, I didn’t hate it.But I do hate the – all together now – quick cutting in the action scenes. Do the filmmakers sit down and say to themselves, “How can we possibly make these scenes impossible to follow and annoy the hell out of the viewers?”
Whenever the movie would slow down and take a breath, though, I thought it was pretty good. I don’t mind Daniel Craig as James Bond, even though – all together now – Clive Owen would be better. Craig’s done a good job of giving us a more hardboiled Bond. It took a while, but I’ve gotten used to Judi Dench as M. Great photography throughout, and the opening credits were okay, with a theme song that’s not as bad as I’d heard.
But it did bother me that they used the classic James Bond theme only over part of the closing credits, and I don’t care how hokey it is, it wouldn’t have killed ‘em to have the line “Bond. James Bond.” in there somewhere. I liked the little visual nod to GOLDFINGER, though. (Ah, GOLDFINGER . . . still the all-time best Bond movie.) The final fate of the villain bothered me a little, too. Just didn’t seem like the way Bond would have handled it.
So what does all my quibbling and damning-with-faint-praise add up to? I liked QUANTUM OF SOLACE and will certainly continue to watch the James Bond movies, but I sure think they could do better.
12 comments:
I agree that QOS wasn't as bad as everyone seemed to make it. Craig does a credible job, much better than Roger Moore(too gadget-laden)or Pierce Brosnan(looked too wimpy) ever did.
I too would have liked to see the theme up front and the Bond, James Bond line has become a signature of the series.
I like this "thuggish" Bond a lot, closer to the Fleming vision of the character than any previous model.
Goldfinger is my favorite film and Connery my favorite Bond. But Craig is moving up the list toward third, behind Dalton.
I haven't seen this one or the previous one - up until then I had seen every one of them. Probably time for me to give these new ones a chance. They can't be as bad as the last Pierce Brosnan one, "Die Another Day."
And I'm totally with you on the cutting - I had that same problem with The Dark Knight. I wish I could have actually "seen" the action sequences, but as it was, I just got dizzy and remember hearing a lot of thwacks and grunts.
Right on target.
I liked the first few Roger Moore entries, until they got too silly. Although I always got the feeling that the real James Bond was temporarily incapacitated and the British government somehow talked Simon Templar into pretending to be Bond for a while. I know a lot of people who liked the Timothy Dalton movies, but for some reason I never warmed up to him in the role, or to Pierce Brosnan. The last few Brosnans we watched more out of habit than anything else. Craig's growing into the role nicely, but Connery will always be the real James Bond to me.
I didn't mind Bond as a thug, the way this one played it. Not as good as the last one but boy, I have seen worse ones.
I haven't seen QOS. When i read all the bad reviews, i decided to make it a DVD rental. It's in my queue, but other movies keep getting bumped to the top of the list. I thought the first Daniel Craig movie, Casino Royale, was terrific. Intelligent script, exciting action. But, no one will top Connery. Ever. Period. While i agree Goldfinger is solid, I think From Russia With Love is far and away the best Bond film. That Connery-Shaw fight on the train? Does it get any better than that?
I agree that Craig portrays a Bond close to Fleming's version, thuggish yet afflicted by a bit of self-doubt. Connery's Bond was thuggish at times, but never lacked confidence. I wish they would add in a bit of the fun-loving, gadget using, roguish Bond to the Craig films. I think Bond can be a thug and a fun-loving ladies man at the same time. Can't say anything bad about Connery's Bond, but I really loved George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service - highly underrated.
P.M.,
And here I thought I was the only one in the world who thought Lazenby was pretty much okay as Bond and that OHMSS is a good film. I think the book is one of Fleming's best novels, too.
James in the opening car chase Bond's car ends up without its door and yet I can't remember seeing it come off. As you know I dislike this film merely because it's Bourne not Bond.
I too think Lazenby would have made a great Bond had he continued - the actor regrets his pig headedness at the time. OHMSS is a great film.
I think I remember the brief shot (aren't they all) in which the door of Bond's car gets knocked off. But I'm not sure.
Too many action sequences sewn together with the minimum of script. Character development and relationships sketched in, not lingered upon; we don't get to 'know' anybody, we just move to the next slick action scene. A lot of the dialogue was incoherent too. It isn't as if they couldn't have spent more time on the screen time to fill in the gaps; it was shorter than the superb Casino Royale. Craig is a good Bond, though, so I will watch the next one; I only hope they learn from the mistakes made with QOS.
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