Bond is Back

I’ve posted before about my high degree of anticipation for this year’s new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. After the daring, exhilarating masterpiece that was Casino Royale and Daniel Craig’s deep, dark turn as the famous superspy, Heather and I have been waiting with great excitement for the follow-up. Upon its release a couple weeks ago, the movie was met with good, but not great, reviews. Both my brother and my sister-in-law saw the movie during it’s opening weekend, and they both echoed the common summary of the critics – good movie, but nowhere near what Casino Royale was. Thus, when we finally headed to the theater to take it in Saturday, my expectations had been somewhat lowered. Perhaps that was a good thing, because though Quantum of Solace isn’t nearly as good as it’s predecessor, it's still a terrific movie that provides a bit of closure (or, rather, a “quantum of solace”) to Bond’s origin story and sets the stage for the future of the franchise.

Daniel Craig returns as Bond as the movie picks up just minutes after the ending of Casino, a first for the series. We enter the story in the middle of a frenetic and violent car chase as Bond brings in Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), the lead he had captured at the end of the last film, for questioning. Bond is seeking answers regarding his Casino love interest Vesper Lynd, who was blackmailed into betraying him to save her boyfriend. With M (Judi Dench) keeping close watch, concerned that Bond’s desire for revenge will overshadow his duty, he follows a series of leads that takes him to business mogul Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) and the mysterious organization Quantum that seems to have eyes around every corner. Allying himself with a mysterious woman named Camille (Olga Kurylenko) and his old contact Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini), he seeks to uncover the truth about Vesper while delving into an organization that threatens the stability of England and the rest of the world.

Once again, Craig hits it out of the park as 007. A character that had descended into caricature over the course of 20 (entertaining in their own right) films is once again explored in much the way Ian Fleming wrote him almost 50 years ago – a coldly efficient killer with a duty to country and strange allure. Craig brilliantly portrays a Bond broken by lost love but channeling the devastation into a brutal rage contained behind an almost robotic exterior. Quantum completes the origin story begun in Casino Royale, and by the time the credits roll we have a sense of who this Bond is and what makes him tick. The movie is also successful as an action film – it’s brief 100 minute running time is loaded with near constant action, expertly staged and frantically shot. Director Marc Forster, more well known for art-house fare such as Finding Neverland and Monster’s Ball, proves a capable captain at the helm of the ship, keeping the movie tightly focused and never boring. The supporting cast is good, especially the holdovers from the previous film such as Giannini and Jeffrey Wright’s Felix Leiter. Amalric is good, but Greene lacks the interest and magnetism of Mads Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre. Similarly, Kurylenko’s Camille is a strong, if underexplored, character, but she can’t hold a candle to Eva Green’s Vesper. She’s not supposed to – after all, despite the presence of two Bond girls (Gemma Arterton joins the cast as a British support agent), Vesper is in a way the strongest female presence in the film, despite never appearing onscreen. That, perhaps, is the best indication I can give as to what to expect from Quantum. The film functions as an entertaining though unspectacular epilogue to Casino Royale, not the groundbreaking success that film was (how could it be?) but a great addition to the new Bond canon nonetheless. It will be interesting to see how the franchise breaks into new territory in the next outing. Until then, Bond fans, go in with the right expectations, and you’ll enjoy this one immensely. - ***1/2 (out of 4)

Quantum of Solace is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content.

Friday's Featured Film - 9/12/08

New movies are usually released to theaters every Friday, but who’s got 10 bucks these days to drop on a movie that may well be a load of crap? Given those odds, each Friday I offer an alternative on DVD that you can rent at your local video store (or in some cases, avoid at all costs). Some will be new releases, others you may have to hunt for, but all of them are available to light up your small screen should it be a lazy Friday night.

Casino Royale

As I noted today, I’m looking forward to this fall’s upcoming Bond sequel Quantum of Solace with a fair degree of excitement. That’s due largely in part to the masterpiece that was Casino Royale. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve been a Bond fan ever since I devoted the summer of 1996 to renting every last 007 movie from the local video store. They’re quite fun. However, after Die Another Day hit theaters in 2002 as the franchise’s 20th installment (ignoring the unofficial and deplorable-in-every-way Never Say Never Again), the series was starting to feel a little stale. Die Another Day realized this, and tried to compensate by bringing Bond into the 21st century with CG effects (the series has long been renown for its dependence on actual stuntwork) and a techno theme song by Madonna. The results, though fun in a corny sort of way, were not exactly thrilling. So, as Pierce Brosnan retired from the role, the producers decided that in order to take Bond to the next level they needed to take him back to basics. The result of that endeavor was Casino Royale, a fantastic, gritty, character driven film that amps up the reality of the action and of Bond as a man while still keeping the distinctive flair and excitement that is 007.

Daniel Craig, much maligned by fanboys after his initial casting as the first “blonde Bond,” steps into the shoes of 007 in a story based on author Ian Fleming’s first bond novel. Appropriately, the movie throws out the 40+ years of Bond lore and starts over, picking up with Bond as a brash rookie agent on an assignment to earn his license to kill. This leads to his ascension to Double-O status and his first major mission in service of M (Judi Dench, the lone holdover from the previous series). Bond is sent after a mysterious man named Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) who acts as a security banker for less-than-upright individuals around the world. Events have forced Le Chiffre into desperation, attempting to recoup his recent losses by setting up a high-stakes poker game at the titular casino in Montenegro. As MI6’s best player, Bond is entered in the game, bankrolled by Her Majesty’s government and looked after by Treasury Department representative Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). As Bond seeks to corral Le Chiffre, he gets a brutal introduction to the dark world he’s entering and the havoc it will wreak on his own soul.

Though the set-up doesn’t sound out-of-the-ordinary for Bond, the way it’s handled brings a breath of fresh air to this storied franchise. Craig shuts the mouths of the doubters, and he shuts it hard with not just a fantastic Bond performance but a fantastic performance period. This is a Bond who is closer to Fleming’s character than any other to grace the screen. Craig is charming, yes – but his is a gritty Bond, a Bond who is just as at home (if not more so) in an all-out brawl as he is sipping a martini. As the story progresses, we see a James Bond who for the first time in recent memory is an actual character – and it’s his personal journey that gives the film its dramatic arc. I don’t remember ever seeing Brosnan or Roger Moore’s Bond come out of a film a different man than he began it, but Craig’s most certainly does. Green’s Lynd throws out any expectations of what it is to be a “Bond girl” by delivering a character that is every bit as multi-dimensional as Bond himself and a foundational part of who he is. Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre isn’t a maniac with a secret lair inside a volcano dreaming of world domination, he’s a villain as frail as he is frightening. Add in great supporting roles by Jeffrey Wright as Bond’s CIA ally Felix Leiter and Giancarlo Giannini as his contact in Montenegro and you’ve got a quietly fantastic cast. The action, while fast and furious, is grounded in reality – with equal parts thanks to co-screenwriter Paul Haggis (director of the Oscar-winner Crash) and director Martin Campbell (who previously helmed GoldenEye – one of the best of the previous series). This is the first Bond who feels like he could actually exist in today’s world. Yet don’t think for a second that they’ve taken the fun out of Bond. From a parkour chase through a construction site to a vehicle chase at Miami International Airport to a thrilling setpiece in Venice, the action is furiously paced – its intensity only amplified by the fact that there are actual characters we care about on the line, not mere cardboard cutouts. By the time the credits roll, we’re hungry to see where the future will take this new Bond – a wish that will be directly granted, as Quantum of Solace will be a direct sequel to Casino Royale, picking up just minutes after it leaves off (the series has never before attempted a continuing plot from film-to-film). I’m counting down to November 14th, and I guarantee that after watching Casino Royale, you will be too.

Casino Royale is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action, a scene of torture, sexual content and nudity.

Double-O Awesome!

For those of you who didn't see Daniel Craig's first turn as storied spy James Bond, Casino Royale was to the Bond franchise what Batman Begins was to the Batman franchise - a much-needed reboot that takes the character back to his gritty roots and away from over-the-top craziness. I'm not sure if that means that the follow-up, Quantum of Solace, is going to be the Bond equivalent of The Dark Knight, but this trailer looks really stinkin' good.