Quantum of Solace (2008)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  6 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: After 'Casino Royale,' set a whole new bar for the Bond series with its genuine character-development, this sequel 'Quantum of Solace,' does at least carry some of those things forward. Bond has now become the cold-blooded killer that MI6 required, and he's now out for revenge looking for those who lead Vesper to betray him and end her own life. That packs the film with some emotional resonance that Daniel Craig sells extremely well with his angry, careless physicality, and that ultimately means it does wind up being a fairly engaging Bond entry at times.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Ultimately though, all that interesting stuff is pushed into the background by a relentlessly messy, globe-trotting plot. Sure it features the mysterious organisation that Vesper was involved with, but the mechanics of the story means that revenge element often gets lost in translation. That makes it rather tiring to begin with, but what makes it ten times worse is just how badly-directed the thing is. Seriously, what was Marc Forster thinking? The action is so choppy and difficult to follow that it makes you feel sick, and even dialogue scenes are cut together extremely bizarrely such that it makes it almost impossible to keep track of what's going on. In fact, the best way to describe it would be pretentious - we really don't need to cut a scene in which Bond infiltrates a meeting with shots of an opera, and nor do we need to cut an interrogation scene with a bloody horse race through the streets of Italy.
  
  VERDICT: Whilst it carries through some of the emotional-engagement of its predecessor, 'Quantum of Solace,' largely fluffs things up thanks to its messy narrative and woeful direction.

  Like?

  0 member like this review.