February 18: Quantum of Solace (2008 -- Marc Forster)

★★

Extending Casino Royale’s update of the Bond formula, Quantum of Solace provides contemporary takes on elements like the beauty of its actors, the athleticism of Bond, and the internationalism of the franchise.  It also avoids the easy parody that earlier Bond films lapsed into, the same way that Casino Royale did.

But Quantum embraces some of the other Bond elements a little too fervently.  Bond films have action, and lots of it, but Quantum is one extreme action sequence after another.  It starts with an intense car chase sequence that segues into an extended on-foot pursuit in Siena across clay tile roofs and into a restoration project, whose scaffolding echoes that of the opening of Casino Royale.  Shortly after this chase, we’re launched into yet another extended action pursuit, this time in boats in Haiti.  Then there’s a long fight sequence at an opera, a dogfight between a large vintage plane and some faster fighters, and the final fight at the hotel in the Atacama Desert.  Thrilling as all these are individually, so much chasing ultimately has a numbing effect since we get used to the breakneck pace, like we do in any action movie.  The more successful Casino Royale turns to action sequences more judiciously and, at the same time, it uses these sequences to move the plot and character development forward rather than stopping the story for an action pause.  Bond takes real hits in the action sequences of both films, showing us a modern Bond who lacks the invulnerability of the earlier on, but while Casino Royale gives us a Bond who becomes more human or shows us aspects of his character like his growing love, the action Bond of Quantum is something of a punching bag.  He hurts, but he takes his punches and goes on with little to no character development.

Which points to another problem with Solace—this Bond character is flat and uninteresting, and he shows very little growth through the film. He starts as a man who has been deeply hurt, and Solace takes him through a series of action scenes that lead him to his revenge.  But there’s no change in his character through the film, and he doesn't seem to learn or to suffer.  Director Marc Forester has also included a parallel character who is also motivated by revenge, Camille Montes, but  he then makes nothing out of the pairing. Both characters want revenge, both characters get revenge, and neither seems to have an arc of development through the film.  Ultimately, the revenge theme seems clever and perhaps gratuitous since it does't lead to any particular outcome.  Park Chan-wook gets far more from his Vengeance Trilogy.

Some elements of Solace please.  Many stunts are wonderful, like the leaps  from roof-to-roof Siena and the parachuting into the desert after the airplane duel.  And there’s great intercutting in some action sequences as that between the on-stage Tosca performance and the back-stage fight.  The finale action sequence also effectively cuts between Bond’s fight in one part of the hotel and Camille’s in another part.  But despite all the high-quality action and editing in this Bond installment, it's missing the human Bond that makes Casino Royale so successful.  And the result is a collection of fun action scenes that don’t have much to say.