Movie Review: Quantum of Solace

Daniel Craig is back as the British super-spy, James Bond. And just like in Casino Royale, he does a great job of playing the part in Quantum of Solace. I wasn't sure what to expect with this movie, since most reviews were all over the place on whether it was good or not. After watching it and thinking for a bit, I've come to the conclusion it was pretty good. Is it excellent? No. Could it be better? Yes. Could it have been a lot worse? Definitely.

Comparing Quantum of Solace to its predecessor is inevitable. James Bond movies had become a parody of themselves, and were on the verge of franchise death when they were completely re-imagined and presented in a new light by Casino Royale. How does Quantum shape up? Well, it's not as good as Casino Royale. It suffers from some plot and cinematography issues that Casino Royale didn't, but it's still far and away better than the James Bond crap that Hollywood has been shoveling at us for well over a decade.

Let's start with the good stuff. Quantum of Solace is chock full of wholesome violence. From the opening seconds of the movie to the final roll of the credits, people, cars and buildings are being shot, smashed and burned beyond recognition. There's some awesome gun play as well as a good car chase to keep your attention. While it's a short movie, it doesn't waste any time. There is something exciting going on for every second of this movie.

However, therein lies one of the movie's greatest flaws. It's hectic. Really, really hectic. 8 year old child with ADD snorting 30 pixie-sticks kind of hectic. This movie doesn't stop to take a breath or check out the views for even a moment. And why would it? It's too damn busy leaping from machine gun battles to airplane crashes to jet boat jumps to knife tortures to sporadic ninja attacks. Okay, maybe no ninjas, but that would kick ass. Get ready to be confused. There really is no time to think during this movie, and I found myself on several occasions wondering, "Wait, why the hell is he flying there? What does this have to do with the last scene?" The plot isn't necesarrily bad, it's just that you will have absolutely no time to absorb it.

The action scenes (which are really all of the scenes in the movie) left me a little dissapointed as well. Don't get me wrong, they're good. However, they decided to go with the Bourne Identity "lets strap a camcorder in some guy's armpit" cinematography. You can't really tell who's hitting who or what the hell's going on. I get it. It's supposed to simulate the violence and confusion of an actual fight. But I don't care. I paid $12 to see a damn movie, I want to be able to, you know, actually see what's happening.

Other than the complex and frenzied nature of the plot and cinematography, I really have nothing to complain about with Quantum of Solace. It was a good spy movie with lots of action and violence. I appove whole-heartedly.

SCORING: I give Quantum of Solace 3.5 Agent Smiths out of a possible 5.