Sunday 11 January 2009

Quantum of Solace - Revol

The new JB reboot is making my senses tingle. Bourne has resurrected the franchise and made it pull up it's socks. Crazy chases, crazy fights and crazy editing will alienate a lot, especially Bond fans. But it was dying anyway and needed a change of pace and direction. Well it's got one. Craig is second only to Connery in my eyes. Will require a few watches to truly appreciate, but then so did Casino Royale. Kick ass theme tune as well.

4 comments:

Pete Tiley / Bike rider. said...

I concur on some parts not on others. Whilst the series does need a change of direction, to me, this was a blatant rip off in many respects. I would liken this to the recent BBC vs. ITV shenanigans, ergo strictly come dancing and dancing on ice. OK, so they have dancing, so how can we beat it ' i know, lets put em on ice'. It were as if a check list had been ticked.

CAR CHASE - CHECK.

QUICK CUTS - CHECK.

DESATURATE THE COLOUR - CHECK.

ROOF TOP CHASE - CHECK.

CRASH THROUGH A WINDOW - CHECK.

HAND TO HAND FIGHT IN FRONT OF LARGE WINDOWS SO AS TO USE NATURAL LIGHT INSTEAD OF STUDIO LIGHT - CHECK.

I could go on but reckon a side by side view is due. To be fair, if I wanted Jason Bourne I would watch his films and heck, even Taken was better than this.

It took two hours of dross to get to the crux of the film. I think M said it two or three movies ago when she called Bond 'a dinosaur'.....

So, its a big thumbs down from me my good man. Still, opinions are assholes, or something like that....

sickboy said...

failure is his own impotence

Pete Tiley / Bike rider. said...

oh and why on earth did they feel compelled to dress Bond like Steve McQueen ala The great Escape when he was on the motorbike?

Subtle, but not subtle enough for my all seeing eye....

Rob said...

A flawed success is how I'd describe this one. The gritty, look and tone serve hard-boy Craig well and the introduction of a world-wide evil organisation feels appropriate (as long as they build up to something bigger and more satisfying in later installments).

However, there's no meat on the story...lacking the emotional weight of the Vesper storyline from Casino...or the jeopardy from an epic Thunderball style storyline.

It's main strength AND weakness is in the editing. The artsy abstract cutting of the opera sequence is some of the most imaginative and original in ANY bond film. It gives it a unique euro-feel sophistication to the big budget actioner.

But the action sequences are cut soooo fast, its impossible to build up tension...so you simple don't care on the outcome. (Watching the big "dangling from the rafters fight" 15 minutes into the film, at the cinema, I completely blanked out. It was cut so fast I gave up trying to work out who was doing what and where! Only on a second viewing I realized how Bond won the battle.)
There's nothing wrong with a slowly cut, properly directed action sequence for getting audiences on the edge of their seats; see the truck chase in The Dark Knight or the bug attack in The Mist to see how it can be done well.