Quantam of Solace

The night I saw Quantam of Solace, the latest installment of the James Bond series, two of the three people I was with were pushing us to see Transporter 3 instead.  I had heard the bad reviews from friends and other critics alike, but my thought process was:  "It's Bond, how bad can it be?  The last one was great, I'm sure this one will be fine."  Then I saw the movie.

We should have seen Transporter 3.

My criticism of Casino Royale had been its lack of familiarity with the rest of the Bond franchise; the departure from the traditional looking Bond, the conspicuous absence of reoccurring characters like "Q" and Moneypenny, and the shrunken role of gadgets (especially in regard to Bond's car).  Casino Royale was able to overcome those defencencies with a strong plot, a good performance by Daniel Craig as Bond, and some exciting action scenes.  The 2006 film gave some interesting background on the Bond character, from his beginnings as the raw and newly promoted 00 to the superagent Commander Bond.  Quantam of Solace, however, offered no reprisal to the disappointing turn away from traditional Bond.  Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the movie were its action scenes; they moved so fast and used so many cuts that it was difficult to process what was going on.  The action scenes reminded me of The Bourne Ultimatum, which won an Academy Award for its film editing.  The difference between the two is that while Ultimatum was fast paced, and modern, Quantam's action scenes were frantic and unwatchable.  

The plot also left much to be desired.  Like the action, it was far too difficult to follow to be enjoyed.  The villain was lame, especially by Bond standards (seriously: Goldfinger, Dr. No, Mayday, Jaws...Dominic Greene?).  One of the few bright spots of the film was the Bond girl Camille, played by the stunngingly beautiful Olga Kurylenko, but her performance and beauty were wasted.  There wasn't even a love scene between her and Bond, which is quite a feat for a series that has made its name on the chemistry of Bond and his leading ladies.  There was next to zero effort to flush out Kurylenko's character with background or history; indeed, the deepest look we get into Camille is the depths of her cleavage.  This is another area where Quantam fell far short of Casino Royale, where the Vesper Lynd character had depth and substance.

As a huge fan of the series overall, I am usually easily entertained by Bond movies.  They don't have to do much to hold my attention.  Even some of the Pierce Brosnan clinkers like Tomorrow Never Dies and Die Another Day I enjoyed.  This was the first Bond movie I have ever seen (and I've seen them all) where I was ready to walk out halfway through.