"Quantum of Solace" is likely the most anticipated Bond film in decades. "Casino Royale" had some people excited because of the new crew that had stepped in to try and save the series from possible extinction because of the past few Bond's lacking a lot of the quality standards older Bond's seemed to have. "Royale" did not dissapoint, in fact it totally reinvented the franchise and really ended up being one of a few great Bond films. It only gained popularity on DVD after that and it's had about two years now to build an excited fan base. From the opening weekend tally on "Quantum of Solace" being the highest in Bond history by about 23 million dollars I think it did that very successfully. Does it live up to the hype and excitement? Probably not, but for me it got pretty d**n close.

The direction in "Quantum of Solace" is it's major strong point. It's paced very quickly which was probably not it's major flaw this time around. "Royale" was a much slower film and that worked too, but this Bond is taking a whole new approach. The last film's Achilles heal was really it's fairly lame action sequences. The poker scene and the writing were exhilarating and clever, but the action was lacking and stereotypical. This film's action is very precise and controlled, yet it ends up being extremely exciting, and it mirrors the Bourne series, which was kind of trying to be a modern realistic version of Bond anyway. While I really did miss the classic Bond wit and charm this vengeful Bond works too, but it probably would've been a better film had they added a dash of Bourne, but still kept all the Bond charm as well. The director, Marc Forster, is obviously extremely versatile and really reminds me of Danny Boyle in the way that he can go from a very adult film, to a children's film, to a quirky comedy, to a fast paced and brutal action film and make all of them good. He has had a few rough films in his career though, such as "Stay". He still does a great job of making this a very exciting action film, but if it was him that took this franchise in the new direction I didn't really see it as all that necessary. I would've really rather seen the new and intense action applied to a film that mirrored "Casino Royale" more closely.

The acting is one of the film's other major strong points. Judi Dench is always fantastic and this is no exception. She does a great job in her motherly supporting role as "M", Bond's superior. Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko does a good job as her very serious and damaged character, "Camille". She never actually gets together with Bond in that oh so formal way all Bond girls have in the past. It was also fun to see all the great character actors like Jeffrey Wright and Giancarlo Giannini pop up now and again for different bits of time. Daniel Craig, whether or not you like his hair and eye color, encompasses the Bond character with a perfect amount of confidence and likeability to be one of the very best Bond's that the series has ever seen. He is only challanged by Sean Connery and with a few more films I could see Craig being widely considered better than Connery. Mathieu Amalric was the absolute highlight of the film for me. One of the best ways to describe him is to call him a french Al Pacino. He's exhilarating to watch and perfectly despicable as the newest in a long line of hateable Bond villains, and I can't want to see him in more United States made films. He's truly a great and versatile actor.

The writing throughout the film is not bad, it's just not as good as "Casino Royale". I don't really understand why Paul Haggis decided to take the film in such a different direction after having such great critical and commercial success with "Casino Royale" which really embraced the Bond character and all of the series' charms. It was witty and clever throughout, but now this new film is not even close to the same. It's occasionally witty, but mostly dark and brutal. It's a very violent film for a PG-13 and probably is only rivaled in intensity by "The Dark Knight" for action films period this year. It's very exciting and entertaining, and the action sequences are well structured, and for the most part very original, but I still was really wondering why all of the Bond charms were erased from the film. What's the matter with Bond having fun with the Bond girl? I didn't see the point in taking that out. Everyone loves the character and most of the series trademark lines. If it ain't broke why is it being fixed? I don't see the point in doing that.

"Quantum of Solace" is still a very good action film in it's own right and probably would've been a hit if it had a new spy character and was not part of the franchise. Most of the opposition has come from big fans of the series that it has been taken in such a different direction. Had this been an entirely new film starring Will Smith or someone of the sort reviews would've been much more positive, and it probably would've started a whole new franchise. So if you see it I would urge you to really watch it to be entertained and don't go in expecting a true Bond experience. For the next film I can say I hope all the trademarks come back, but the new found intensity and grit should stay as well. Why not bring in the new and hold onto the old too?

7.5/10

This is part of Captain D's Good Movies Write-off 2

Recommended: Yes

Movie Mood: Action Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Script