The story is there, let’s get on with the action!
Quantum of Solace starts where Casino Royale left off with the injured Mr. White. Bond brings him in for questioning with the assistance of M and MI6. What MI6 finds out is alarming, as Mr. White is part of a larger, lesser-known group of world-wide criminals. From this point on, Bond tries to uncover what this group is doing, who they comprise of and what can be done to stop them (if anything). Along the way, he discovers distrubing things such as the CIA is in cahoots with the mysterious group and they’re helping to allow a change of government in Bolivia. With all this going on, Bond has to take care of this business and finally (hopefully) resolve his feelings for Vespir.
I can understand why so many critics were mixed about this movie. Truly it was for the people who had watched the first one, and not a stand alone. For so many years, Bond movies have always been individualized, though the group SPECTRE always seemed to finds its way into the early and semi-early films. So, with that said, it doesn’t do well as a movie if you’ve not experienced the first. Of course having said that, you then have to ask yourself why you haven’t seen Casino Royale (which is still my favorite Bond film of all-time — and yes I’ve seen them all). Anyway, if you have seen the first then you’ll certainly find yourself completely immersed in the second one. It’s pure action and it’s quite non-stop.
Paul Haggis’ screenplay demands revenge and is unforgiving in its methods. He designs Bond in this film as the last hoorah of Bond’s true emotional being. He makes the character into a ‘cold hearted bastard’ and resolves it at the end. It’s an amazing capping of the same character in the first film. Now, what most critics won’t admit to, because they are forced to individualize the films, is that Haggis did what he thought was appropriate to develop the character. He simply separated one gigantic story into two, so nothing was rushed. People wanted some sort of character resolution in the first film, but cleverly Haggis didn’t want to simply wrap it up at the end of Casino Royale, he wanted to take his time. I don’t fault him for this at all because it was the right way to go. I wanted to see the conclusion of Bond’s character from the first film. I wanted to see this entire backstory of Vespir and the unveiling of this mysterious group. These things could not have been successfully unfolded in the first film. There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Haggis could have, or should have, included this information in Casino Royale. It would have seemed way too rushed. I’m happy with what Haggis has written and what direction Marc Foster took to show it. This movie was by all intent and purposes was pure emotion driven action that doesn’t let up until the end and finally concludes the other half of the story.
As for the presentation of the film, the DVD is gorgeous. It is just as good as the theatrical presentation, though the Blu-ray (which I’m dying to see) has got to bring the beauty of the cinematography into clear HD focus. Until we get it though, I have to admit it’s nice to see on DVD.
As for features, here’s what you get:
· Bond on Location” 24-minute special feature
· Start of Shooting
· On Location
· Olga Kurylenko and the Boat Chase
· Director Marc Forster
· The Music
· Crew Files
I think there is enough here to warrant your attention. It certainly isn’t as good as what the two-disc Blu-ray of Casino Royale, but you do get a set of features that add a lot of insight and appreciation to how/why they made this movie. You also get to know more about the boat chase (which is pretty intense). I think this movie had a lot more exotic locations than the first, which warrent more interest in how things went down. Good stuff though for a two-disc set.