Looking back on 007: The Craig Years - Quantum of Solace (2008)

The end of Casino Royale did something different than most Bond films, it left us with his story unfinished. Typically these movies tell one story contained to the limits of its runtime and end with our heroes journey being resolved. At the end of Casino Royale however we see his story left unresolved in a way that it had to be mentioned in the next film. Quantum of Solace not only mentions the happenings of the first movie, it uses them as the basis for what happens throughout the entirety of this one. Rather than see Bond go after a new villain with new girls and leave the past unmentioned we see him go out on a mission with intentions of avenging his fallen lover. Everything that drives Bond to succeed in this film can be directly drawn from the one that came before, and i'm not sure that is such a good thing. 

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Directed By: Marc Forster

If I'm being honest, I had never seen this film before last night. As I mentioned last post I wasn't a big fan of Casino Royale when it was released so my excitement for a sequel was not present. Not to mention when the film was received with not so amazing critic response my desire to see this became dismal. The film picks up basically where the last one left off, Bond is back to work after experiencing personal tragedy and he is doing what he can to find out who set up his former lover. His anger sets him on the trail of a mysterious organization that is plotting to take control of Bolivia's natural resources. His duty as a spy and his personal rage blend together to make one truly discombobulated movie that is hard to follow and at times completely incohesive. 

After revisiting Craig's first outing as Bond and enjoying it more than I had a decade ago I had a small glimmer of hope that it may transfer over to this movie as well. I've come to enjoy Craig's Bond as much as any other, but this movie is hard to get into. Every time I thought I had the tone or plot of this movie figured out it would take a complete 180 and go the other way. There are random jokes spliced randomly throughout that just feel like they belong in another movie and at times they can take you out of it entirely. 

This seemed to be a small part of a bigger problem that was the editing, the cuts in this movie are all over the place. In this sense the whole movie feels like an incomplete picture that was sloppily thrown together to make the release date. There is a story in this movie somewhere but I think it was left on the cutting room floor. Certain scenes are clearly cut short or chopped up into barely cohesive moments that should have been played out in their entirety making it difficult to ever truly get engaged by the film. 

The decision to have this be a direct sequel to Casino Royale I think was a mistake. The film was tied down from the restraints of what happened in the film before it and was never really able to stand on its own. It feels like more of a clean up of its predecessor than it's own Bond story. 007 movies should be able to be watched out of order in any way you want without having to understand a through line, Quantum of Solace breaks that mold and is hurt because of it. You can't really watch this without seeing the film that came first and even if you've done that, it still isn't a satisfying payoff to the story that began in 2006.  

Don't take my word for it though, Quantum currently rocks a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, not horrible but easily the lowest of any Craig Bond film. A. O. Scott of the N.Y. Times said of the film "Quantum of Solace prompts the question: is revenge the only possible motive for large-scale movie heroism these days?" Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald said "Quantum of Solace never really engages you in the mechanical but transporting way the best Bond movies do." 

The 22nd chapter in the ongoing Bond franchise was unfortunately a dud, trying to carry a story through multiple films just isn't what this series was built for. Craig gives his all as Bond as usual but it isn't nearly enough to make this film enjoyable. From the moment you hit the opening credits with a subpar song, you know this isn't going to be 007 at his best. If you are looking to revisit the Craig years before Spectre this weekend I'd say you can feel safe skipping this one if you don't have the time. 

Check back tomorrow for my look back at Skyfall and as always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!