"Quantum" of disappointment

A lot has transpired since 1963 when Dr. No was brought to the screen, but James Bond has been a great constant through all those years. One thing that has kept the series fresh has been its frequent re-invention. While the stream of actors has represented the most obvious change; Connery to Lazenby to Connery (again) to Moore to Dalton to Brosnan to Craig; there have been other, less obvious alterations. For most of Brosnan's reign, Bond was trying to go toe-to-toe with supervillians and was surrounded by Jerry Bruckheimer-inspired explosions. With Brosnan's departure, the decision was made to try something a little different. Casino Royale was, therefore, a departure from what 007 had become in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, and a welcome one at that. It felt new, different and satisfying, but it was really a return to what Bond used to be. From a personality standpoint, Craig is more like Connery than any of the actors who played the part in between. And, from an emotional standpoint, Casino Royale is related to Lazenby's only outing, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Those are the only two films in which the unflappable hero fell in love; both which lead directly into a subsequent adventure in which revenge is served cold. Quantum of Solace (the unfortunate title is taken from the unrelated Ian Fleming short story) is the first sequel in the franchise, beginning only moments after Casino Royale ends.

Quantum of Solace is not as intentionally low-key as Casino Royale, but neither is 007, the indestructible superhero he had become on Brosnan's watch. But there is no Q and therefore no gadgets. The only constant between the Brosnan and Craig eras is Judi Dench as M. Her presence in this installment, while necessary to all Bond films, creates headaches for continuity and, frankly, she spends too much time onscreen. Also, Jeffrey Wright who is Felix Leiter again, sadly representing the only time in Bond history that an actor has returned to play Bond's CIA contact.

The plot is standard Bond, albeit minus the whole idea of world domination. After all, the bad guy, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), isn't out to dominate the world, he only wants to cause a few droughts and control Bolivia's water supply. Bond gets involved because he's tracking down the people who were responsible for Vesper Lynde's death at the end of Casino Royale. Clues lead him to the sexy but dangerous Camille (Olga Kurylenko). She in turn leads him to Greene. Meanwhile, M is getting pressure from her superior to rein in 007. or else. This gives Judi Dench an opportunity to get out from behind her desk. She hops from country to country about as easily as Bond hops from rooftop to rooftop, leading to about six location changes, and just as many head scratches.

Sadly, there's something hollow about the proceedings. There's no real rhyme or reason. In fact, the whole thing doesn't feel like a complete movie, or at least not a complete Bond movie. The SPECTRE-like Quantum, an organization that has members in powerful places, is likely being established as an umbrella villain for future stories. Their role here is shadowy, and the way they are handled is part of the reason why the movie feels incomplete.

In addition, while there are plenty of nods to previous Bond outings, the missing staples leave unfilled holes. For example, there is no utterance of "Bond. James Bond" or "Shaken, not stirred." There are no verbal puns and one-liners we have come to relish. There's no bloody gun barrel at the beginning (it's at the end). Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme" is relegated to subtle cues in the generic score, with the theme occurring only over the end credits. For a die-hard Bond fan, such as myself, the exclusion of these staples are about as disappointing a choice in the franchise since Roger Moore swapped Bond's signature Aston Martin for a Lotus in The Spy Who Loved Me.

The film's biggest problem is its directing. Director, Marc Forster is a successful art house filmmaker with impressive credits (Monster's Ball and The Kite Runner), but he is clueless when it comes to action sequences. Forster seems to overcompensate for his inexperience and, to put it bluntly, his incompetence directing action sequences. His approach seems to be to shake the camera as much as possible and by using, as I call it, ADD editing; shots seemingly don't last for more than about a half-second.

Most of the action scenes, including a car chase, a plane chase, a boat chase, and a couple of fights, are so incoherent that it's necessary to wait until they're over to figure out who's still standing. We've seen this technique before, but never with Bond. And, to be frank, it's not something I ever want to see again in a 007 movie.

Why should Craig have so many elaborately choreographed fight scenes, only to have them ruined by bad editing? These techniques belong to Paul Greengrass's "Bourne" series. Furthermore, Bond is not Bourne. 007 films are more character studies than action films and unfortunately, Forster seems to have blurred the line separating the two.

As the film's chief nemesis, Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) is about as weak as one could imagine. Despite a creepy sneer, Greene is neither frightening nor intimidating. Amalric's vast talent is wasted in this role although, in fairness to him, he's not aided by the writing. Model turned actress, Olga Kurylenko (Max Payne) is a very good Bond girl. She is sexy, capable, and bound to Bond by ties that have nothing to do with love. She has a forceful screen presence and meshes well with Craig. She is one of the very few bright spots in the film. The lowest point of the film is the opening song Alicia Keys and Jack White collaborated on. It is quite possibly the worst Bond theme ever. (Madonna.you are now off the hook.)

After the quality of Casino Royale, it was too much to hope that Bond films had reached a new, higher plateau. This is the least satisfying Bond production since Die Another Day. But, as has always been the case with good and bad 007 films, we can find solace in the one thing we can rely on: James Bond will return.