Lament of a Movie Man

So I watched the new James Bond ‘Quantum of Solace’ yesterday with my parents at South Bank Cinemas. I hadn’t seen Casino Royale so I was anticipating the new direction that the series was taking.

And to be honest, I wasn’t impressed. Yes it was entertaining, yes it was fun to watch, but it was just another typical action/thriller movie. It didn’t feel like a ‘Bond’ movie, which is an issue if you’re watching the 22nd Bond movie. However Daniel Craig was good as Bond – reminds me a lot of Timothy Dalton with a dash of Sean Connery for good measure.

My major complaint was that the film had a lot of great set pieces and action, but there was no link between one scene to the next. A movie should be telling a story, not just throwing out one scene after the other. And that’s what weakened ‘Quantum of Solace’. I saw a lot of explosions, killings and Daniel Craig smouldering at the right moments, but nothing that suggested that what the characters were doing were leading to a point, to a climax.

I understand why the series was rebooted – ‘Die Another Day’ left a lot to be desired and sorted forced in a radical change to the way James Bond was made. Tastes had changed and advances in technology meant that the death defying stunts which defined the previous Bond movies were now part and parcel of the trade.

However I felt that the producers should have created a new direction for the series, creating something that would makes this series stand out to the movie going public. For me, a more compelling ‘Quantum of Solace’ would have involved greater exploration of the main characters and more depth in Bond and Olga – they both had the potential to have a fascinating backstory which could have been fleshed out. Because action movies are not renowned for character development – James Bond could have broken the mould in that regard, but oh well.

Ultimately, my wish is that the next James Bond strives to set itself apart, rather than just conforming with the trends of the day. It might not hit pay dirt in the box office, but it’ll guarantee a future for the series.

~ by trungsten on December 2, 2008.