For nearly half-a-century, Ian Fleming’s spy extraordinaire James Bond has held a martini in one had and a radio-watch-transmitter-wristaction-stun-ray gizmometer doodad in the other. No super villain is resistant to his bullets; no beautiful woman impervious to his charm. With 22 films, James Bond is the longest-running franchise in the history of cinema.
Four decades later, the motifs remain the same – the cast of characters, the title scene, the chase scenes, the exotic locales, the Aston Martins – they’re always there. A Bond film is most certainly a Bond film, but why did watching “Quantum of Solace” not feel like watching a Bond film? And, more importantly, why is that not a bad thing?
The fundamental principle of social Darwinism states that adaptation is paramount for survival, and in a post-“Terminator 2,” post-Jason Bourne world, the classic Bond has found a hard time fitting in with the action elite. The natural approach: throw out the formulas and start fresh for a new generation of Bond lovers.
In Fleming’s novels, Bond is described as tall, dark-haired and handsome. He is charming, witty and light on his feet; he always says and does the right things. Sean Connery and Timothy Dalton were tall and dark, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan were witty and charming. But what about Daniel Craig? The dude has blonde hair and is, well, a little short.
Craig is not the smarmy smug caricature that has been drawn over the decades. He is stoic, cold, absolute and kills without discretion. He is machine-like in his precision and efficiency and doesn’t let any bullshit – like dialogue or character development – get in the way of his killing agenda.
“Quantum of Solace” plays out as the sequel to “Casino Royale”; the opening scene of “Solace” begins moments after the last scene in “Casino” ends. Bond is being chased through the hillsides of Siena, Italy, with unknown henchmen firing rounds from their automatic weapons through the back window of his Aston Martin. The chase carries on at a three-cut-a-second pace before Bond puts two bullets through the thugs’ heads and their fancy Italian car flies off the hillside. As Bond rolls up to the MI6 base, he opens the trunk to reveal a bound and gagged Mr. White from “Casino Royale.” Cue the opening credits.
From there it’s all action, action, guns, revenge, betrayal and action. Bond tries to thwart the plans of Dominic Greene, the leading member of the Quantum group who fronts as an advocate for reforestation and plans to execute a coup d’état in Bolivia for dictator General Medrano in exchange for a seemingly innocuous piece of desert land. In the process he maneuvers an old rusty dirt bike, an old rusty motor boat and an old rusty DC-3 airplane – all flawlessly and effortlessly. Going up against high-tech vessels with highly trained operators, Bond threads needles, barrel rolls, and plays disappearing acts on professional pilots whose life work is to fly planes and run boats – a little farfetched, to say the least.
For the first time ever, M and the MI6 try to regulate and deter Bond’s reckless killing ways instead of nurturing them. She goes so far as to revoke his passports and credit cards, but obviously, that’s not enough to stop him. Also for the first time ever, Bond doesn’t share a bed scene with the Bond girl, this time played by the ever-so-lovely Olga Kurylenko. Her character, Camille Montes, pairs up with Bond to seek revenge on General Medrano for killing her family, but again, no sexiness.
It’s hard to call “Quantum of Solace” a Bond movie. Director Marc Forster brings a relentless wave of action to the screen, perhaps compensating for an actionless resume that most notably features “Monster’s Ball” and “Finding Neverland.” The feel is different, but the charisma is the same. It’s safe to say that Daniel Craig is good – really good – for this role and as the franchise enters its fifth decade, he’ll be there to make sure it enters its sixth.
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