Quantum of Solace

I went to see the new James Bond film last night, and came away with mixed feelings. It's a fairly decent film, which runs at a fast pace, and is highly entertaining. I've heard it compared to the Bourne films, and it's true, this is probably the least "Bond-like" film ever made. The physical violence is fast and brutal, with Bond killing several times in the first 10 minutes of the film, showing no emotion as he goes. That's actually true to Ian Fleming's books - in which the Bond character is much darker and more brutal than the tongue-in-cheek paff served up by the likes of Roger Moore. In my (humble) opinion, Timothy Dalton was the best Bond to date, being the closest to the character in the books. Anyway, I'll run through the main parts of the film:

The plot

It's not a long film, but the plot twists, turns, and writhes like a snake. All utterly over-the-top, and unnecessary. The film is an immediate continuation from the previous Casino Royale film, and its main themes are Bond's need for revenge against the killers of Vespa (his lover), and the possible existence of a shady society bent on world domination (aka "Quantum"). The action constantly jumps from one country to another, characters come and go without more than a second glance, the true motives of Quantum are only touched on briefly, and it doesn't end satisfactorily - there's plenty of lose ends left untied. The film has three writers (Paul Haggis, Neil Purvis and Robert Wade), and it suffers as a result - too much input, too much confusion.

The gadgets

VERY low on the ground in this film. No laser-cutting watches or wrist-mounted dart guns. Just a swish mobile phone which sends photos of criminal suspects straight to MI6 headquarters at the touch of a button. The computer systems on display at HQ are really impressive, and probably aren't that far off being real, from what I've seen of Microsoft's fledgling touch-screen operating system. The trademark Aston Martin Bond car is thrashed (and shot) to pieces in the opening scene of the film, and isn't seen again - instead we're treated to a new Ford Ka, some Range Rovers, and a new Ford 4x4. There's no part for John Cleese's "Q", sadly.

The women

Two of them - one is a rather morbid ex-Bolivian secret service agent bent on revenge, the other is just a small cameo role for the gorgeous Gemma Arterton, which is really a waste of her acting talents.

The bad guys

No crappy henchmen in this film, gladly (shuddering at the thought of "Mr Kill" from Die Another Day). Mathieu Amalric puts in a very good performance as Dominic Greene, the central force for evil in the film, while Joaquin Cosio is convincing as an ex-dictator seeking to overthrow the Bolivian government.

As a stand-alone film it's a pretty good effort, but as part of the Bond franchise it leaves me wondering what direction they're heading in. There are several totally unnecessary action sequences, done just for the sake of blowing something up, or making the audience pay attention. That's not Bond - they need to look back at the first half of Casino Royale, and figure out how to capture more of that quiet intensity and brooding malice that set the film apart from the others.

Rating: 3 out of 5