Quantum of Solace (2008)

Ok, I feel sort of silly even talking about this movie, since probably any of you who are interested in it have seen it already, and the story line is probably known to everyone anyway. Plus I feel like my opinion isn't quite as valid as many other movie bloggers since I have barely seen any other Bond films. Oh well. This is the story of a really badass dude (Daniel Craig) who gets pretty caught up in his revenge. He's after the guy who set up his now-dead girlfriend Vesper, intending to find him through a huge, super-secret, super-mysterious worldwide organization... of evil. He specifically targets Dominic Greene, a powerful environmentalist taking part in many sinister deeds behind the scenes, including engineering a governmental coup in Bolivia in exchange for land rights containing (it's assumed) oil and having a henchman with the worst haircut. Bond spends a lot of time acting against orders from M (Judi Dench) and his ethics are rather skewed (he needlessly kills several people, etc). Thus, he is often secret-agenting with limited resources, making the stakes higher and the plans improvised. He runs into Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a woman connected to Greene, who harnesses vengeful plots of her own. They're at odds at first but eventually realize their teamwork is mutually beneficial. There's a lot of chasing, fighting, killing, shooting, traveling, and betrayal, with a little bit of sex and torture thrown in.

Um so I thought this movie was pretty good? Not sure why a lot of people are dissing it so much, but I assume it's because of its extreme departure (more so than Casino Royale it seems) from older Bond films. Also a big criticism that I've heard, which I agree with, regards the hyperactive camera work in the action sequences. Several scenes were incredibly hard to follow, especially the opening car chase. It was very choppy and over-stylized, making it more annoying than sleek. Director Marc Foster has previously done quieter, slower films like Stranger Than Fiction and Finding Neverland, so maybe he just wasn't accustomed to doing such fast-paced action sequences? Anyway good things: I liked the "rogue agent", no-holds-barred, has-to-fend-for-himself aspects of Bond's adventure. The action scenes were generally really well done and engaging, despite the sometimes-confusing shooting style. James Bond is a man who will be involved in a chase no matter what kind of vehicle he is in or not in- on foot, in a car, in a boat, in a plane: any of these situations are appropriate for chasing or being chased. Awesome. I also was pretty impressed with Camille's character, compared to how I'm told Bond girls usually go. She was very independent and pretty damn badass. She had her own background and story going on, and was for the most part not reliant on Bond. She wasn't in the movie enough, unfortunately. It'd be nice to see these two team up again but I don't know if that is a thing that would happen. Yeah so it was overall a very engaging action/thriller, with a decent, darker-themed storyline. There could have been more gadgets and there could have been more sex (though it would have felt inappropriate plotwise) but if you really want that stuff, aren't there like 20+ other Bond movies to watch with those things in them already?

4/5

"Another Way to Die"- Jack White and Alicia Keys (I like this song but the opening credits were weirdly done- too many nude giant sand ladies. And why was he falling? Also the song itself was out of place)