Quantum of Solace

In Daniel Craig's Bond, has become fashionable for film fans to criticize the loss of style and almost all the ingredients that made Bond Bond. I have never been a fan of the Bond legend or a die-hard action movie fan, so the loss of some typical elements for this film doesn't seem painful to me. What I do miss is a greater lightheartedness, the typical self-ironic lines, and light-hearted jokes. The pace is brisk and the style corresponds to what viewers could see in the previous 21 Bond films. Director Marc Forster does not offend me with his style, and I appreciate his direction much more than some more famous films in the series. The excessive action prowess doesn't sit well with me either, as the hero can take care of dozens of enemies without blinking an eye, without even getting out of breath, and also the fact that the villains, such as Mathieu Amalric's portrayed character, have such a short lifespan. But that's how the Bond fairy tales go. Overall impression: 60%. (11/06/2008)

The first Bond that is practically without a beginning. It takes a while to get used to the fact that the film starts essentially in the middle, so we don't get a lot of character analysis and explanations of who is working for whom. Quantum of Solace is almost exactly on the well-worn tracks of Casino Royale, and that is a good thing. Daniel Craig has achieved something unprecedented, he has perfectly defined the contemporary action hero, which no one has been able to do in the past 10 years. Ethan Hunt is too action-oriented and not believable enough, Jason Bourne is an emotionless machine, but Crags's portrayal of James Bond is a thrilling persona that fits perfectly into the current trend of the perfect man: a rough, charismatic, and intelligent killer who is like a fish out of water without a luxury suit. Thankfully, there are emotions and love, but presented intentionally in a subdued manner, and delivered in precise doses, and Bond is breathtaking in those moments with the accompaniment of a gentle piano. Forster knows exactly what is in nowadays and he is careful. Perhaps it is only in the last two Bond movies where they managed to bring rawness to the action, meaning that finally the blows are hard enough, the falls are rough enough, and the running is fierce enough; no frills, no clever cameras shortening this or that, absolutely fierce, uncompromising, and devilishly fast action without any time for thinking. It could almost be said that the adrenaline can be felt through the screen. Casino Royale plus Quantum of Solace: timeless filmmaking. (03/15/2009)

I’d say that the traditional martini is a thing of the past for the new Bond, Craig looks more like someone who sips energy drinks. When we left the cinema my friend said: “Mate, didn’t we make a mistake? Wasn’t this Hulk by any chance?“ We didn't, but the fact is that Bond's casualness, elegance, wit, insight and typical ironic puns have probably gone down the drain with the dashing Craig. To make an animal analogy, Bond has always been something of an easy-going German shepherd for me (with the exception of Dalton), while Craig's Bond is a purebred brawling pit bull. I'm not complaining, just stating dryly, but I'm not really enjoying this newly set Bond universe. That said, it was a pretty decent action flick. (11/17/2008)

The only problem about this otherwise splendid action movie is that it just isn’t a Bond movie; not one bit. Which might piss double-o-seven fans off a little, but in view of the fact that I not a particular aficionado of the character, nothing stopped me from having a great time. For the first time since From Russia with Love. What Marc Forster gets away with in this commercial blockbuster is not only endearing, but often admirable. The action scenes are ingenious and fantastically edited together. And what’s the best thing about the twenty-second Bond movie? Well, I maybe repeating myself, but the simple fact that this isn’t a Bond movie, but “just" a gripping, honest-to-god action thriller, at last with an interesting, non-two-dimensional hero with a face like a pissed gorilla in a suit. (11/06/2008)

To tell the truth, I found it hard to decide how to review this movie because of the fragmentized beginning (a great mistake from Forster) and pathetic opening credits, but in the end the pluses outweighed the minuses (I didn’t mind that Bond didn’t drink Martini ;-). We start where we finished. Without any explanation at all, we are plunged into the action (a bit Miami Vice-style) and the beginning is then a march-past of incredible action scenes, not as flawless as in Casino Royale, but first-rate action all the same. Both Bond girls were also great, and personally I liked Gemma Arterton more than Olga Kurylenko, even though she was given less room to perform. And the powerhouse and also best-working component of the movie is the flawless Daniel Craig thanks to whom everything is as it should be. (11/28/2008)