The Magicanada Project

Reuben The Great · Joined: 11 Sep 2007 Posts: 245

Mind you, I haven't seen it since it was in theaters, but I remember my basic thoughts. I LOVE James Bond and have seen every single movie that has been produced. Random fact, I think Connery (obviously, and I can say this because I've actually seen the movies!) and Brosnan ARE James Bond. Even though many may say "oh Brosnan, nah he's ok I guess", I think he's TERRIBLY underrated and Goldeneye happens to be one of my favs. Anyways, Quantum theory.

I was very excited to see Quantum of Solace. Craig in the advertisement with that assault rifle was making me anxious as it looked like a great movie. The previews told us one thing basically-- "James is pissed, and there's a secret organization that has people everywhere, but James Bond knows nothing about."

So, after seeing the movie, guess what new information I acquired. "James Bond was REALLY pissed, and there's a secret organization that has people everywhere, but James Bond knows nothing about."

I found out NOTHING about the organization, more than the commercials told us. Or if at all, very little and obsolete. This I found disappointing.

Another MAJOR problem I found with the movie, is that they are becoming so much more...........Hollywood-ized. Remember the oldies? Connery would be locked in a cave and escape via the use of clever thinking and gadgets, almost like Macgyver but in a good way (burn.) He would escape dangerous places and be tortured sometimes. Nope, not a chance. He punched his way through the entire movie, no gadgets, just a pistol and his fists. Nothing interesting, we might as well make it Commando with Arnold Schwarzenneger. I hated that, there was no use of...anything. It was all just "guy pops out of a closet in my apartment! Lets punch his brains out!"

Which brings me closer to my next point. Casino Royale was a brilliant movie in my mind, and would have to be since they brought in a new Bond. He was tortured, oursmarted, conned and at one point actually on the verge of death. Quantum of Solace was the complete opposite. Every fight he got into, there was little danger posed to him and he always managed to escape, period. No questions asked. He was never in terrible danger or heavily opposed, he just wrecked everything in his path. He just won every fight and was never heavily opposed, and this along with no gadgets ruined the movie for me.

My last point was of the finale. He battled the villain who had controlled the organization and this was the final battle before the movie ended. You'd expect it to be epic and James be near death and escape cleverly-- nope. His villain was a dainty Frenchman who couldn't be any closer to a girl. Frenchy's defence: Swing a fire extinguisher around, and scream like a girl while Bond tries to defeat me! Come one! THAT'S a villain? Pfft.

So that's it. In the end I realized three things: Daniel Craig is one pissed of lad, his gadget maker died, and Hollywood is ruining James Bond. I'm sure if I watched it again I'd love the ACTION part of it, but as a James Bond movie, I didn't enjoy it. 2.5/5 stars, as I loved the action sequences and the premise, but not the rest.[/code]

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BrianMillerMagic · Joined: 14 Aug 2007 Posts: 543 Location: New York State

Okay.

First of all, the secret organization is being kept secret because they are using it as a plot device to keep a continuation of the story by way of sequels, something that they've never done in the Bond series and is much more true to Ian Flemming's novels.

Second, the "oldies" didn't have crazy devices and gadgets until Goldfinger. Go back and watch Dr. No and From Russia With Love - very little gadgets or fanciness of any kind. It was a guy and a gun, mostly using his fists and wits. That's the way Ian Flemming wrote the character (which you'd know if you'd read the novels) and that's what this 'reboot' of the series is aiming to achieve.

If you want gadgets and cheesy death traps, go watch the Roger Moore era.

Lastly, the villain in this movie, like Casino Royale, is a "real life" villain. The kind of villain that actually exists in the world and which organizations like the secret service, MI6, etc actually attempt to take down. Not clowns bent on grandiose plans of world domination. If you want that, there's the entire Roger Moore era and the tail end of Connery. Wildly entertaining, but not the point of this 'reboot'.

Quantum was meant to show the evolution of Bond's character the way Ian Flemming wrote it; to explain why Bond is the way that we've seen him through the entire series. To that end, and as a continuation of the story in Casino Royale and setting up the next chunk in this story, it did it beautifully in my opinion.

EDIT: You said "...his gadget maker died...". Clearly you're not familiar with the story line to have said this. Q did not exist as a character until, as I mentioned, Goldfinger. Since Casino Royle and Quantum of Solace take place in the time line of Bond's history PRE Dr. No, having Q would be a complete lack of continuity.
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Michael Kras · Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:26 am Post subject:

I personally thought it to be very well done. Then again, it's the only James Bond film I've ever seen.
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Reuben The Great · Joined: 11 Sep 2007 Posts: 245

Great reply Brian. I hated the Roger Moore movies, I don't want a LOT of death traps and such, its just he was never in real danger. His villain was...well, hardly a villain and he never came within any close harm to his life. Casino Royale had the torture scenes and such, but this didn't. I loved the action but didn't like how it was always expected he would beat all of his foes, as he did.

Mike, your point is invalid because you've never seen any other Bond movies! Razz

And you call yourself a movie critic!

Brian, I agree with you more now that you've brought up the pre-gadget age as what Fleming wanted as Bond.

_________________
"I lost a bundle of hundred dollar bills in an elastic".

"I found the elastic."