Film Viewed: Twice on same day (11/14/08)
Well it’s here. The newest 007 flick is out and I have to say…I’m disappointed.
Solace takes off where Casino Royale left off (literally only like 20 min. later!) with Bond driving away from some villains. Be warned Bond-lovers, this movie does not have the traditional follow circle to shot and blood spill. It just simply begins with the action. That was one of the first major problems. No Bond film (as far as I am concerned) didn’t start that way. Casino Royale almost didn’t but it made up for it with a great opening. Anyway moving on. After the car chase we are witness to Mr. White’s interrogation by M and Bond only for both to discover that Mr. Whites “organization” has “people everywhere” at which point an agent goes rouge and attempts to kill Bond and M. Bond then launches into a high speed foot chase with the agent through an Italian city. It is clearly obvious here that the writers heard from Casino Royale’s lack of action scenes and tried to make up for it. After this chase is when we get the song opening which brings in the new problem. “Another Way to Die” by Alicia Keys and Jack White is by far one of the worst Bond songs I have ever heard. It does not sound like Bond nor does it have any sort of style. Its chorus also sounds strangely miss-tuned (I play enough instruments to know). All in all it’s by far much worse than Chris Cornell’s “Arm Yourself” song for Casino Royale which I immediately loved. Don’t get me wrong I love Alicia Keys and Jack White, I don’t think it’s their fault, I believe it’s the problem with the mixer and orchestrator. We are witness to Mr. White’s interrogation by M and Bond only for both to discover
Moving on to the plot…if only there was some. I am not joking to you when I tell you that you will never discover what the heck the Quantum of the Solace is but instead hear it being spoken of for only about 10 minutes max in the film. The entire movie is about a man named Greene who has the evil plot to steal countries water sources and sell it back to them. Wow…really? I know there is this huge eco-friendly movement going on right now but that doesn’t have to translate into movies, especially not Bond. In my book evil plans fall under 3 categories: Money, Domination, Destruction. This is a money scheme and I admit original but seriously? This evil plan was already used in the movie The Tuxedo (you know the one with Jackie Chan that sucked, wait there a lot of those) where the villain was going to poison the world’s water supply so that his was the only one left for use. However even Greene’s plan gets little air time in the film. The plan is only discovered slightly in the last 30 minutes of the movie. For most of the film all we know is that Greene is rich, evil, and wants desert land in exchange for giving power to dictators. Beyond Greene there is the main Bond-Girl that we are introduced to, Camille. She is introduced after Bond follows a lead (who he kills) and Camille, mistaking him for the lead that Bond was after, attempts to negotiate a deal and realizing her mistake runs off (of course Bond gives chase). Camille is probably one of the worst Bond-girls of all time. The worst part is that in my opinion that Camille’s story gets more screen time then the main story. Not only does this happen but also that Bond never has an intimate relationship with her and mostly just acts like a friend or brother to her most of the time goes against all previous Bond-girl standards. Camille is a strong female who does not mind fighting for herself and does not fall for men so easily which makes her the complete opposite then what she should be. I am not a sexist and by all means do I agree with equality and fairness, but ever since Casino Royale, Bond-girls have become more and more feministic. At least Vespa interloped with Bond, Camille just simply gives him a kiss. Ian Fleming had always intended for Bond to be a bit sexist yet admiring of the opposite sex. Women were generally put in as feeble and easy to charm in Bond movies. At most Jinx from Die Another Day was as strong as they get for being with the CIA and fighting along with Bond, however she still fell in love with him. Another thing about Bond girls is clothing. All Bond-girls have been known for their revealing dresses and outfits yet since Vespa’s shoulder pads in Casino Royale, it has been getting worse. At the most Camille wears a night dress for a party but beyond that just generally wears a tank top and jeans (not really that sexy). Camille’s story revolves around with her revenge to kill a general who murdered her family years ago and thus puts her in a similar boat with Bond who seeks revenge on those who killed Vespa. That is also the 3rd major part of the story, Bond’s revenge. This part also makes the movie worse in that Bond was never very emotional and the most we had ever done so was during On her Majesty’s Secret Service where Bond got married.
The film in total goes completely against Bond standards perhaps in an attempt to see new grounds for the series however fails horribly. In Solace it should be noted that Bond will never use a single gadget nor will he make any witty, yet corny remarks (ie: a man gets shot with a harpoon and Bond says “I think he got the point” -Thunderball). These two things are major trend setters by Bond and have never been left out of the films until now. It is safe to say that the next Bond will continue this story and hopefully truly reveal the idea behind the Quantum of Solace. All in all this Bond movie just doesn’t feel like one, It feels just like a random action flick with a big budget and a useful name.
Quantum of Solace
+It still is Bond so that’s one
+Great action
-No major plot
-Bond-girl has most screen time in terms of plot
-Horrible Opening song (not the performers, the creators)
-Terrible Bond-girl character (not the actress but the character)
-Does not feel like a Bond film
-Most Pointless title of the Year award
GRADE (Out of 10): 5.5
"Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young. In a world of magnets and miracles. Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary. The ringing of the division bell had begun"
-WK2029
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