Quantum of Solace is a film that has garnered mixed reviews, and having seen it on the weekend, I can now understand why. In my opinion, Casino Royale, the 2006 James Bond outing, is one of the standout Bond films. It did for Bond films, what Batman Begins did for the Batman franchise. It's for this reason that my expectations for its direct sequel, Quantum of Solace were quite high.
The film opens with Bond at the wheel of the iconic Aston Martin, speeding through Italy with bad guys in pursuit. While it's not made explicitly clear, we apparently pick up the story a short time after where Casino Royale left off. After evading his pursuers in style, it's revealed that Bond has kidnapped Mr White, from the previous film, and is delivering him to M for interrogation. Mr White hints that he's a member of an all powerful top secret organisation, that has people everywhere, at which point M's body guard goes loco and tries to pop a cap in M's ass. Hectic action follows, Mr White escapes, but Bond has just enough information to begin his investigation.
When the action shifts to Haiti, we are introduced to Camille, played by a stunning looking Olga Kurylenko. Like Bond, she to is out for revenge. In order to achieve their goals, both Bond and Camille need to go through dirty dog industrialist, Dominic Greene. He's the bad guy. Greene is acquiring land from war ravaged nations in return for effecting 'regime' changes. All very political, and all very complex.
The films climax takes place in the Bolivian desert, at a hydrogen powered 'eco hotel'. After much action, many explosions, and lots of gun fire, Bond gets what he's after... well sort of... and the good guys win.
I'm still a little unsure how I feel about Quantum of Solace. On the one hand it was enjoyable action film, fast paced (running time of around 90 mins) and did enough to maintain my interest. On the other hand, as a direct sequel to Casino Royale, I don't think that it quite made it up to scratch. While the basic premise behind the film was quite simple, at times the plot became so convoluted that I struggled to keep up with who was doing what to whom. The quick edits in some of the action scenes also made it hard to keep up with what was happening on screen. It's also not a film that really stands up on its own, watched in isolation of Casino Royale, it would no doubt lose a lot in terms of the viewers understanding of what is driving Bond.
Quantum of Solace is an enjoyable enough film, go along with low expectations and you'll no doubt enjoy it. If you go along expecting it to live up to the hype, and the standard set by Casino Royale, you're bound to be disappointing. I'd give it 3.5 out of 5 pickles.
