Quantum of Solace – coming soon

When it was announced that the next actor to step into the shoes of the world’s foremost international man of mystery would be blond, blue-eyed Daniel Craig, everyone and their dog was up in arms over the choice of leading man; how could he pull it off when he doesn’t look the part, and prefers automatic transition over manual?

Doubting Thomases the world over were made to eat their hats upon the arrival of Casino Royale, which confidently reinvigorated the Bond franchise, which was veering dangerously close to self-parody with the pretty god awful Die Another Day. All of the classic elements were there, an Aston Martin (DB5), Vodka Martini, soundtrack by David Arnold, nods to the political climate of the time, there was a thankfully noticeable lack of CGI, with practically all the stunts being performed the ‘old fashioned way’, there were guns, there were girls, and there were gadgets; even the film’s title was a nod to the original Ian Fleming source material.

But despite all the knowing winks, it was a thoroughly modern take on a classic style, perhaps best encapsulated by the infamous Vodka Martini scene which sent naysayers into apoplexy; asked by a waiter if he wants his drink shaken or stirred, he replies ‘Do I look like I give a damn?’ This Bond meant business, but not business as usual.

(*Quick spoiler warning*: if you’ve been living in a soundproofed cave and have not yet seen Casino Royale, the please read no further – the following paragraphs contain small giveaways of its plot. If you’ve not seen it then go and rent it! Go and rent it now!)

Now Bond is back, in Quantum of Solace, the follow up to Casino Royale, which, again, borrows its title from an Ian Fleming novel, and is a first among the series in that its events follow on almost immediately after from those of its prequel – the film literally begins minutes after the end of the last one, with Bond jumping into the driving seat and giving chase, after Bond learns that the shadowy organisation influencing the actions of his enemies in Casino Royale has agents placed high up in the hierarchies of MI5 and the CIA.

The film also sees Bond taking liberties with his 00-status, and find himself in conflict with M (again, ably played by Judi Dench) as he struggles to unravel the mystery behind the powerful Quantum organisation, whilst keeping his desire for retribution over the death of Vesper Lynd (played by Eva Green in Casino) in check; the film sees Bond searching for his titular quantum of solace.

Mathieu Almaric, most famous for his role in last year’s award-winning The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, plays the villain of the piece, one Dominic Greene, a businessman who poses as the legitimate, public face of Quantum. Fittingly, and unlike classic Bond villains such as Blofeld, Baron Samedi, or even Le Chiffre, Greene’s appearance is that of a clean shaven, sharp suited businessman. Bond will be aided in his mission by Camille (played by Olga Kurylenko) another agent who has a score to settle with Greene, and the MI6 agent Strawberry Fields, played by Gemma Arterton (St. Trinians, RocknRolla, and telly’s Lost in Austen).

The film is set to be released here in the UK on the 31^st of October – which is before anywhere else in the world, which is nice. One minor gripe to be had is that theme song ‘Another Way to Die’ composed and performed by Alicia Keys and Jack White doesn’t really feel suitable for a Bond film – it sounds like a Marilyn Manson song, which, seeing as the film comes out over here on Hallowe’en, is kind of appropriate, I suppose…

You can check out the official trailer here, as well as that heretical Vodka Martini scene from Casino:

This entry was posted on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 11:06 am and is filed under DVD Rental. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.