Blue's Review: Quantum Of Solace

I was listening to the aforementioned /filmcast this morning for their review of Quantum Of Solace - a review that reminded me that I never actually did my review of the movie.

So, here goes.

It sucks.

Honestly, I could probably pretty much leave it at that and be happy with my analysis. But for your benefit, I'll say some more.

It really sucks.

Better?

The plot? Sucks. The acting? Sucks. The editing? Sucks. The action? Well, okay, the action's alright. So, if you're the kind of person who goes to a movie just for the action and effects, you should go see it.

But everything else blew and was majorly disappointing after the awesomeness that was Casino Royale.

I'm not going to give the "Oh, it doesn't feel like a Bond movie" argument because as a non-Bond fan, I really don't give a shit if he says, "Bond, James Bond" or order a martini "shaken not stirred" or if there's crazy gadgets that he uses. That's not what I care about as a non-Bond fan. It's much like I don't give a fuck if the bridge of the Enterprise in the new Star Trek movie looks like an Apple Store like so many people are bitching about. I'm not a Trekkie so I don't care.

What I do care about in Quantum of Solace is a plot that is at least mildly interesting and easy to follow. QoS fails on both accounts. It's complicated and has all the depth of Ridley Scott's Monopoly Thimble. There's no emotional investment in the plot and somehow they manage to piss away the emotional investment in the characters as well. The acting is... well, shoddy at best. Daniel Craig does an adequate job as Bond. Judi Dench is cool as M again - probably the only one I don't have a complaint with. But all the other characters are forgettable at best.

My biggest complaint though is the editing. I hate jumpcut editing. I hate the desire to make the action "feel fast." I blame the Bourne movies - which I really didn't like either. But it's one of the things that I really disliked about the Transformers movie too. There's just too many action sequences where you feel like you can't figure out what the fuck is going on and who is who and who is driving what vehicle and what have you. QoS just had too many action sequences where I had to struggle to understand who was doing what for me to enjoy it.

In the end, the worst thing about QoS is that it's completely forgettable. The day after we saw it, I could barely remember a thing about it. And even now, I can basically remember the big action sequence at the end and that's about it. There were a few moments they discussed in the /filmcast review that I had no recollection of at all honestly.

And if you can't remember a film a day [or week] after seeing it, you really can't say anything worse about it, can you?

It's a pass, guys. Catch it on DVD, maybe... HBO someday, sure... but don't waste your ten bucks to see it on the big screen.

Shaken Not Stirred

Last week during training for my new job, one of the trainers and I were discussing 24 and the subject came up that he and his colleagues often debate the question - James Bond or Jack Bauer.

He went with the argument that Bauer was better because Bond is actually ordering a weak martini when he orders the "shaken not stirred" drink. I, of course, pointed out that President Bartlett made the same statement during an episode of West Wing back in the day which made the trainer scurry about to try to figure out what episode it was in.

I also said Bauer - but my argument was far simpler. He cut off a criminal's head and carried it around in a duffel bag for christ's sake. Not to mention that he bit out a terrorist's jugular.

Annnnyways... he may not be as cool as Jack Bauer but Bond is making a comeback. Check out the new trailer for his next flick, The Quantum Of Solace . Watch it while you can because I'm guessing it'll be gone soon.