'Bond, James Bond' - That was the phrase that usually one saw on screen minutes after the movie opened. Then the audience is taken on a whirlwind tour of a situation setting the stage for Bond to intervene. Before taking off on his journey there's the mandatory meeting Bond has with M which is usually witty. Then Bond meets Q who introduces Bond to one sophisticated gadget or another. Before Casino Royale happened all these were part of the rules for making a James Bond movie. With Casino Royale director Martin Campbell took a completely radical take at the Bond franchisee, the result was refreshing. Here you got to see the evolution of a normal man into a fighting machine. Here was a man who could fall in love.
Quantum of Solace's story starts from where Casino Royale left off. Bond is in hot pursuit of Mr.White possible to take revenge for the death of Vesper. Mr.White is the head of a global organization called Quantum and Bond takes him into custody. From here Bond take off on a journey across the globe chasing Mathieu who is part of Quantum and is setting the stage for a coup in Bolivia to take control of the water in the country and profit from it. Bond meets Camille and though there's a hint of some romance between them nothing comes up on screen which is refreshing. There's nothing new or radical in the story or the theme so nothing much to talk about it. The action which the movie begins with is staged well but the editing was jerky, the transitions are faster than a second which makes the action seem fuzzy. I was not able to understand what was going on in the first action scene and the boat chase scene till it ended.
I was disappointed with this movie, I expect some more drama and character development which didn't happen at all. The humor was wry and funny, that's the high point. The music was top notch. The proverbial Bond title song that usher in the movie was a dissappointment, Alicia Keys & Jack White (Another way to die). I think they should have simply let David Arnold collaborate with someone like he did on Casino Royale. Marc Foster directs this movie and somehow lacks to bring in the vibrancy associated with Bond movies. Marc Foster is a brilliant director (remember Finding Neverland) no doubts, but is he upto the task of doing a Bond movie which needs not just high art but also elements which would appeal to a large section of the movie going crowd and not just the arthouse types.
The action that takes place during the Opera in Austria is top class well shot stuff. There are high points in this movie no two minds on that. The movie has an open ending so that the next part can being from where this ends. This movie is certainly worth one watch, not too sure if anyone would want to own a DVD of it.
