Quantum of Solace
While the opening credits promise an abidance by the formulaic James Bond experience (a distinctive and sometimes outstanding theme song, and silhouettes of curvaceous women), Quantum of Solace boldly and unashamedly hauls Bond into contemporary times, by retaining the action but – thankfully - downplaying the sexism, and banishing the cheesiness altogether. Indeed, diehard fans of “traditional” Bond films may feel a bit disheartened by 007’s venture into notably darker territory, in which corruption is set against the backdrop of environmental concerns.
Daniel Craig has dispensed with the glib urbanity that many devotees of the debonair spy consider de rigeur in a Bond film, and displays, instead, grim determination, and vestiges of a broken heart. Even his drink is a bastardised version of the original: still shaken and not stirred, but with an extra ingredient and a citrus garnish, no less! Still, he’s attractive and charismatic, if not as charming as those who preceded him – and infinitely more multi-faceted and interesting.
Taking up directly where Casino Royale ended, Quantum is an action-packed feature in which our secret agent finds little time to seduce the ladies, or issue droll quips. And rest assured: while it is beneficial to have seen Casino Royale, it’s by no means mandatory in order to follow what’s happening in Quantum. Suffice it to say: James is one hell of a busy boy. There’s an elusive evil organisation holding Bolivians to ransom over water supplies. Added to that is a score to settle, following the slaying of a beloved friend.
Anyway, Bond ends up sporting a few abrasions and, no doubt, a dog-eared passport, as he scoots around the globe in pursuit of the wily public enemies (citizens in Siena, Italy, will have to putty the concrete and re-point the roof tiles of their houses after Bond and his prey have finished their frenzied and thrilling chase across their rooftops).
While the female element is present, it has been updated, with “M” (a fabulous-looking Judy Dench), casting aspersions on Bond’s philandering and the subsequent danger in which he places his bevy of willing beauties. Ouch. Has anyone dared to challenge 007’s skirt-chasing in the past? Kudos, M!
One of the women featured in Quantum is Camille who, like Bond, has vengeance in mind. Members of her family were the victims of a violent crime, but that’s not as tragic as whatever it was that left this unfortunate woman incapable of emoting. She’s an athletic type who appears to have had her body tanned to within a shade of a racial reassignment and her mouth bleached by a disarmingly bright shade of pink lipstick which, in the space of one scene, with no handbag in sight, goes from glossy to matt. Given the director’s obsession with Olga’s pout, it’s an irritating inconsistency. The other young female is similarly distracting in an overly conspicuous trench coat, and a wig that makes her appear more like a character from a mardi gras float.
Apparently, critics have noted the absence of gadgets and gizmos in this instalment, presumably having overlooked the fact that they had to relinquish mobile phones on the way into the preview in order to prevent pirated copies making their way into the market . And they must have taken a toilet break during a scene in which what appears to be a glass table top is swiftly and effortlessly converted into the snazziest computer monitor I’ve seen (with the possible exception of the “Windows” version used by Tom Cruise in Minority Report). We all own gadgets, nowadays. What we don’t all do, for instance, is leap across rooftops in Siena. In that regard, this film continues to provide the requisite escapism.
For opera and cinema buffs, it’s almost worth taking a trip to the multiplex to see Quantum merely to see the brilliant scene set in an Austrian Opera House, during the performance of a stunning-looking production of Tosca, in what appears to be a nod in Hitchcock’s “direction”, so to speak.
Some people may just find it all too unfamiliar for a James Bond film, which is a shame, as it’s such an entertaining film. For those who don’t like their Bond formula shaken, let alone stirred, perhaps it’s time to shrug off those staunch prejudices, hop in the Aston Martin DBS and enjoy the Bond of the 21st. Century.