Bruised
I knew 20 minutes or so into last night's Quantum of Solace screening that I'd never see it a second time. (Like I have with The Bourne Ultimatum.) I didn't want to leave -- it certainly holds you and never lets the engine idle -- but I wasn't feeling all that adrenalized. The fierce moves are in place but the high wouldn't kick in. It's the kind of film that keeps you alert and munching your popcorn, but it gives the term "brutal efficiency" a bad name.
Quantum of Solace is Bourne-y, all right. The makers -- director Marc Forster, in particular -- had no choice but to acknowledge the supremacy of that franchise and particularly the game-changer moves engineered by the great Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon. But the damn thing works you over like a machine and I just never fell in like with it. I'm fine with the old-school hallmarks having been jettisoned, but it's overly brutal and just too much of a metal-hammer-to-the-forehead experience. And I say this having adored the last Bourne film.
If someone I trust had come up to me after the screening and offered me a quaalude, I would have popped it immediately. How many action movies have you seen lately that have put you in the mood for medication?
It's not Daniel Craig's fault. He's done what he's been told to do, and quite well at that. But the film doesn't let him do or be anything other than brusque and occasionally savage. And the action stuff he performs seems a little cyborgy at times.
Quantum of Solace is the tightest, most cynical and most coldly assaultive 007 film ever, but I'm not sure where that leaves us. I felt a slight distance from it early on. Not turned off or repelled or even alienated, per se, but if the projector had broken down and the screening cancelled I would have been no more than mildly disappointed. Action junkies will be fine with it, I guess, but what does that say? Action junkies are notoriously easy lays.
The last seven or eight minutes, however, are quite fine -- solemn, thoughtful, restrained -- and endings, as we all know, are half the game. So I'm recommending it for the finale, at least.
Drew Kerr has assembled a list of 20 Bond song favorites, worst to best. No Bond theme has ever been all that great, but Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" has always seemed the catchiest and most strikingly orchestrated, and I still think of Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better" as being the wittiest and most intimate.
I need to hear Jack White's Quantum of Solace number a couple of more times before deciding, but what are the odds I'll give it another serious listen, knowing as I do that I'll never see Quantum again, even on Blu-ray?.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 13, 2008 at 8:58 AM
comment #1
actionman
says ...
I am not a Bond fanatic. I don't care what they do with changing the character. I enjoyed Casino Royale but felt that it was too long and had too much card-playing. This sounds like a solid chip off The Bourne Ultimatum (a great action film). I'l be perfectly fine with that. I found the last two Borune movies to be "brutally efficient" so if that's the style of Quantum, color me happy.
I guess it all comes down to expectations. I didn't grow up in love with the old Bond films. I have seen some but have no desire to sit around watching all of 'em. Connery was one thing, I never liked Roger Moore, I actually enjoyed the one Dalton flick I saw (Living Daylights), and Brosnan was fine (but other than Goldeneye his adventures sucked). Craig seems to own this role and has made it into something new (at least for the series). Bravo to him. It must have been a daunting task to take on the character after so much has come before him.
Wells -- you say things like:
"...overly brutal...tightest, most cynical and most coldly assaultive 007 film ever..."
For whatever reason I like the sound of that.
The old Bond films were created in a different time and through a different social mentality. Going a more Bourne-y route with this franchise makes logical sense (at least to me). I don't need the fancy gadgets, the over-the-top action sequences which take place in some alternate reality, the cheesily named villains, and all of the trademark quips that Bond has been spewing for years. Make him leaner, colder, darker, and more violent -- that's what I want to see in my movie spies.
Can't wait to see it this Sunday.
Posted by actionman
at November 13, 2008 10:03 AM
comment #2
Anomaly
says ...
I'd like to know the tracking for this, especially compared to Bourne 3.
Posted by Anomaly
at November 13, 2008 10:12 AM
comment #3
actionman
says ...
I read somewhere (last week) that the film was tracking to do anywhere between $75-90 million opening weekend. Don't know if that was BS or not...
Wells -- any tracking info you can share?
Posted by actionman
at November 13, 2008 10:14 AM
comment #4
Brian R
says ...
Drew Keer needs to check his geography. Lulu's f*&king Scottish! Not English. And he missed out the great Bond song that never was - K.D. Lang's Surrender.
Posted by Brian R
at November 13, 2008 10:15 AM
comment #5
Brian R
says ...
Sorry, Drew KERR.
Posted by Brian R
at November 13, 2008 10:16 AM
comment #6
gradystiles
says ...
Actionman: No legitimate tracking source is projecting anywhere near $90 million for Quantum this weekend.
Posted by gradystiles
at November 13, 2008 10:21 AM
comment #7
actionman
says ...
Well then what I read was BS. Thanks for the info.
Posted by actionman
at November 13, 2008 10:28 AM
comment #8
p.Vice
says ...
"Action junkies will be fine with it, I guess, but what does that say? Action junkies are notoriously easy lays."
I think you just got pwned, actionman.
Posted by p.Vice
at November 13, 2008 10:30 AM
comment #9
actionman
says ...
I guess so, p.Vice. I am just so upset. Inconsolable. I won't sleep tonight. I gotta go blow my nose and wipe away the tears.
Posted by actionman
at November 13, 2008 10:36 AM
comment #10
Sabina E
says ...
*yawn*
I said it before and I'll say it again, James Bond is tired, boring and overrated. He, a blonde, blue-eyed British posh man, would never cut it as a real spy in the real world. He would be immediately shot dead if he tries to infiltrate the Taliban or Colombian drug lords.
Posted by Sabina E
at November 13, 2008 10:41 AM
comment #11
actionman
says ...
Boxofficeguru is predicting a $57 million opening. Doesn't that seem low? I would think anything less than $60 million would have to be seen as a disappointment.
Posted by actionman
at November 13, 2008 10:46 AM
comment #12
The Playlist
says ...
ha. amazing.
Let's amend though for future purposes though:
"Action/sci-fi/fantasy/adventure/geek junkies will be fine with it, I guess, but what does that say? Action/sci-fi/fantasy/adventure/geek junkies are notoriously easy lays. "
Posted by The Playlist
at November 13, 2008 10:56 AM
comment #13
fattyhadaparty
says ...
"No Bond theme has ever been all that great."
Great Bond themes
1. The James Bond theme - Monty Norman
2. "Goldfinger" - Shirley Bassey
3. "We Have All the Time in the World" - Louis Armstrong.
4. "Diamonds Are Forever" - Shirley Bassey
5. "Live and Let Die" - Paul McCartney & Wings
6. "Nobody Does It Better" - Carly Simon
7. "For Your Eyes Only" - Sheena Easton
8. "A View to a Kill" - Duran Duran
9. "Goldeneye" - Tina Turner
10. "The World Is Not Enough" - Garbage
"The makers -- director Marc Forster, in particular -- had no choice but to acknowledge the supremacy of that franchise and particularly the game-changer moves engineered by the great Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon."
Um, actually, no...they didn't. CASINO ROYALE was the best Bond since FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and the most successfull of all time (not adjusted for inflation). Part of the reason why I liked it so much, was that the action sequences where shot in such a smooth, controlled, classic style. Call me crazy, but I always feel much more invested in a film, when I can actually tell what's going on.
Martin Campbell is one of the best action directors working today and I would like nothing more than to see him direct Bond films for his entire career. But if you told him that's how he'd be spending the rest of his life, he'd probably put a gun to his head.
Every time he makes a Bond film, it reinvigorates the franchise. Then he treats is as a springboard for the films he REALLY wants to direct. Inevitably, his VERTICAL LIMITS and BEYOND BORDERS bomb, and he has to return to the 007 franchise, which, by that time, is on life support because the past three or so entries were directed by people who had no feel for the material.
Incidentally, I have a theory I'd like to run by you. Basically, it says that that at any given time in Hollywood, there are only five directors who can direct action sequences. Now I know that action sequences depend a lot on your 2nd Unit director, your editor and your DP, but I feel that there are always five working directors who can consistently deliver white-knuckle, balls-to-the-wall action. Here are my current nominees (in no particular order).
1. Martin Campbell
2. Paul Greengrass
3. Ridley Scott
4. Peter Jackson
5. Steven Spielberg
Ten years ago, that list would be entirely different. It would have had to include James Cameron, Paul Verhoeven, James McTiernan and probably Tony Scott (with the Wachowskis and Ang Lee as alternates). Of course, there may be other opinions...
Posted by fattyhadaparty
at November 13, 2008 10:56 AM
comment #14
Anomaly
says ...
Guru's $57 predictiion is about what Die Another Day did inflation adjusted. QOS is going to beat that comfortably. I don't know why he's low-balling it.
Posted by Anomaly
at November 13, 2008 11:03 AM
comment #15
nemo
says ...
I'm sorry, but everyone, especially Drew Kerr, is missing the boat on THE single greatest Bond theme song. It is of course the first -- Dr. No.
The only purely instrumental Bond theme song. That minor key electric guitar immediately announces James Bond, which is why they have used it on the sound track of every freaking James Bond movie ever since Dr. No. None of the other theme songs, no matter how great, immediately slides you in that James Bond mood the way the Dr. No theme song does.
Amazingly, the Dr. No theme arranged but not written by the great John Barry, but his arrangement made all the difference. There's a reason they use that very first theme song over and over again.
Posted by nemo
at November 13, 2008 11:04 AM
comment #16
Rich S.
says ...
Actually, nemo, fattyhadaparty puts the James Bond Theme at #1, but you guys might have been posting at the same time.
Jeffrey's and Roger Ebert's reviews fill me with dread. If I want to see Bourne, I'll go see Bourne. As Ebert says, Bond is not primarily an action hero, at least not in the Bourne/Van Damme/Chuck Norris mold. He doesn't have to be a cartoon character, but each Bond film should have some of the classic beats.
Bond is an animal hiding in a civilized, cultured body. You should see more of the latter than the former. Who cares if he's not a "realistic" spy. Neither is Bourne, for that matter. Bond is Bond.
Posted by Rich S.
at November 13, 2008 11:33 AM
comment #17
tommysunshine
says ...
p.vice, your're lucky the license doesn't cover originality or wit otherwise yours would have been revoked during the cuban missile crisis
Posted by tommysunshine
at November 13, 2008 11:38 AM
comment #18
Howlingman
says ...
John Barry's theme to OHMSS is my personal all time fave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRpHpJ7FCHU&feature=related
Posted by Howlingman
at November 13, 2008 11:55 AM
comment #19
bmcintire
says ...
Ebert's review is an odd one to digest. Hearing about it carries more weight than actually reading it. He and Jeffrey both seem to be harrumphing about the same thing, but in wildy different directions. Jeffrey seems to long for the boring parts, Roger for the cartoonish.
I'm happy with it as is, thank you very much.
Posted by bmcintire
at November 13, 2008 12:36 PM
comment #20
The InSneider
says ...
Toldja! So... Jett was a little offbase on this one, no?
Posted by The InSneider
at November 13, 2008 12:47 PM
comment #21
Brian R
says ...
No one is off base. Different movies for different people. Just as Drew Kerr's list is, frankly, for him only.
Posted by Brian R
at November 13, 2008 1:04 PM
comment #22
moviemaniac2002
says ...
I've tried listening to the song more than once and it's horrendous...sounds like five different producers re-dubbed and over-dubbed it in ten different studios...like a 'Frankenstein'd' movie
trailer.
So this film is supposed to be a great
re-invention, re-imagining of the franchise? Turn Bond into an uber-Bourne? So in the minds of
Sony execs and Amy Asparagus and her husband...re-invention means "Let's strip away anything and everything that anyone ever liked about Bond films and slavishly copy another studio's franchise".
Wow, that's creativity for ya.
Posted by moviemaniac2002
at November 13, 2008 1:12 PM
comment #23
ZayTonday
says ...
Instead of recreating the feel of the Bourne movies they should have tried recreating the feel of Casino Royale, one of the best Bond movies of all time.
Posted by ZayTonday
at November 13, 2008 1:16 PM
comment #24
Pertwillaby
says ...
Altought I loved the film, I liked hat you wrote, Jeff, I was expecting much harsher words from you.
Posted by Pertwillaby
at November 13, 2008 1:43 PM
comment #25
almostcool
says ...
I don't know, this Quantum of Solace theme song sounds pretty amazing to me!!
Posted by almostcool
at November 13, 2008 1:52 PM
comment #26
roquentin
says ...
Everyone always cites Ultimatum as the definitive Bourne movie. I get that it caught the zeitgeist finally with the third film, but Supremacy is far superior in my book. The whole impetus of the second film - the death of Maria - makes Supremacy not merely an affecting and effective action machine, but something genuinely resonant. I felt that Ultimatum, for all of its genuine skill, felt a little narratively forced, although I loved the timeline overlap with Supremacy's ending. I'm saddened that Forster was given the reins...he tends to drain the magic out of the screenplays he's given. Bond didn't need to be run through the IKEA mill this time around. (I say this as someone who was shocked that Martin Campbell pulled off the feat he did in Casino Royale). Will they give Campbell the seat again, or can we finally get a more left-field, compelling, action and narrative proficient director?
Posted by roquentin
at November 13, 2008 3:00 PM
comment #27
Markj74
says ...
roquentin - totally agree, Supremacy is far superior to the other two Bourne's. It's also got one of the coolest endings in cinema, effectively ruined by the third film.
Posted by Markj74
at November 13, 2008 3:47 PM
comment #28
atticusrex
says ...
NEMO: No one can argue about how Dr. No opens with The James Bond Theme, but even that opening isn't totally instrumental... the theme segues into a Jamaican calypso song.
That said... the 1 truly instrumental opening theme is for On Her Majesty's Secret Service. As Howlingman mentioned it's one of the best John Barry scores. Actually for my money the last great full score was Barry's last also... Living Daylights. Even has The Pretenders do Bond! I also liked the score for Casino Royale... how it teased the Bond riff through-out without ever going into in until the very last frame... when Bond truly became 007 and the Bond theme blared. Greatness!
Posted by atticusrex
at November 13, 2008 4:53 PM
comment #29
James Kang
says ...
I'm quite fond of the Goldfinger song. I'd be up for listening to that again right now.
Posted by James Kang
at November 13, 2008 5:59 PM
comment #30
Doug
says ...
Hate Craig as Bond. Bland, humorless, not good-looking.
Disliked "Casino Royale." No big opening stunt, horrible theme song, most of the action was TV size (fight in a men's room, etc.), no humor except one joke completely out of character re Bond's martini, no gadgets, Bond can't drive (flips car), weird nude S&M genital whipping (compare with Goldfinger and the laser scene which is a million times superior), a half hour or poker which does nothing for the story. What if Bond and Leiter lose? Are they just going to go home and let the villain go? No, so why not skip the game entirely? Craig chasing a suspect on girders when I think Bond would just wait for him to come down.
Of course "Quantum" will open huge. Running unopposed.
I know I'm in a tiny minority, but I've loved Bond for years and I can't wait for the Craig/Bourne Bonds to be over.
Posted by Doug
at November 13, 2008 6:34 PM
comment #31
D.Z.
says ...
actionman: "Boxofficeguru is predicting a $57 million opening. Doesn't that seem low? I would think anything less than $60 million would have to be seen as a disappointment."
And the last film only came in at #2 here.
Posted by D.Z.
at November 13, 2008 7:02 PM
comment #32
bmcintire
says ...
Just having seen this again, I have to say it plays much more evenly a second time. There are actually some very nice scenes (primarily those with Giancarlo Giannini) between the action pieces. And the dry, quiet humor between Bond and M is still VERY much there.
Love it.
Posted by bmcintire
at November 13, 2008 7:21 PM
comment #33
Chicago48
says ...
I *might* see it and I'm a huge Bond fan....love Daniel Craig, but I'm a little burnt out with all the violence and liberal killing in movies...but what I want to know is -- what or who is Bond spying on? I mean, who's the enemy?
Posted by Chicago48
at November 13, 2008 7:32 PM
comment #34
lehigh
says ...
i really like CASINO, but QUANTUM is just as good.
Just different - for all the reasons Wells mentioned. Brutal, relentless, to the point. And after 25 years of overkill, I don't mind a shorter tougher bond for a change. Purge the system a bit.
It lacks a central romance, and it doesn't have the chemistry/dialogue that was so engaging in CASINO. But it has a theme, thrills, references to current events that seem organic rather than pedantic. And a better than average theme song.
Best theme song? YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE.
Posted by lehigh
at November 15, 2008 1:03 AM
comment #35
rgmax99
says ...
Craig is the best Bond yet, and Quantum is a fun time -- but even for a Bond film, it's also full of silly chases (the opening and the boat chase are ridiculous) and this horrific trend of quick-cut, incomprehensible edits has got to GO!
Today's directors and editors need to pop in Bullitt and The French Connection to learn how to shoot and edit chase scenes.
Posted by rgmax99
at November 15, 2008 7:22 AM
comment #36
Jay T.
says ...
Ebert is right when he says Bond needs his sense of humor back - and also the urge to fuck every hot woman he can - as well as the sense of spectacle.
Posted by Jay T.
at November 15, 2008 9:06 AM
comment #37
nola
says ...
I saw it yesterday. I liked the direction of Casino Royale better. Yes the poker scene was too long but I've watch Royale a couple times. I don't think I will see Solace again.
This version was unrelenting.
I do love Mr. Craig however.
Posted by nola
at November 15, 2008 11:22 PM
comment #38
janee
says ...
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Posted by janee
at May 19, 2011 1:01 AM