Pretty. Empty. Pretty empty. These are the words that come to mind when I think about Marc Forster’s Quantum Of Solace. The direct sequel to Casino Royale lacks all the soul (and source material) that made the previous film so special. Instead of character interaction driving the film, Quantum Of Solace feels more like a straight up action-driven movie with the character development barely hanging on for dear life.
The film begins with a bang, picking up amidst a car chase taking place seconds after the ending of Casino Royale. Then we are quickly whisked from location to location, for reasons not always clear, and treated to action scene after action scene, none of which stand out as being especially well conceived or shot. This was Forster’s first action movie foray, and it shows – there is nothing on the level of Martin Campbell’s action scenes here. So we jump from fight to location and back again, all with a totally unmemorable villain anchoring it all, a forgettable (but unbelievably gorgeous) female lead in Olga Kurylenko. The whole thing feels so darn inconsequential, and I couldn’t help but feel that this film failed terribly on the promise of setting up Quantum as a new SPECTRE-ish organization. I also felt it lacked any sort of punch in resolving Bond’s chip on his shoulder, the ghost of Vesper.
It wasn’t all bad though. Daniel Craig thoroughly owns the role now, and only good things can come with him locked up for another 3 films. He plays the role with all the swagger in the world, but he also exudes a palpable sense of self-loathing and loss from the events of the previous film, which keeps his performance grounded. Another big positive is the return of Mathis – the two best scenes in the film are quieter, more intimate character moments between Mathis and Bond. I’d go so far as to say that it was those two scenes, along with the film’s final scenes, that keep the film afloat for me. Other than that, it was minor things that did it for me – the changing of font styles for each location, David Arnold’s score, the return of MI6’s Universal Exports alias, and so on.
I think Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune actually said it best:
" ‘There's something horribly efficient about you,’ Kurylenko says to Craig at one point. The same goes for the film.”
That’s Quantum Of Solace in a nutshell - too frenetic, too much focus on rapid fire action, too plot-driven. All of the factors combine to leave no room for the one thing that made the previous film work so well – the human factor. Quantum Of Solace is a solid action movie on its own, but is nothing less than a massive disappointment as the direct sequel to a film that seemed to have locked everything into place for the future of the series.
