Quantum of Solace review...

Discussion in 'Cactus Cafe' started by EJC+1, Nov 16, 2008.

  1. EJC+1

    EJC+1 250+ Posts

    Saw it tonight....major disappointment.

    Interesting that QoS got 66% positive on RT, but only 35% positive from the top critics. Well...the top critics were dead on.

    This is one of the more disappointing Bond movies ever made. The plot is really pointless and goes no where, and the SHAKY CAMERA ACTION...some of the worst ever made.

    I didn't like what they did with Bond in this movies...he's a totally emotionless killer....which I guess he's supposed to be because his girl got killed, but I prefer a Bond with a little more charm and style.

    In any case, wait till video or catch a matinee.
     
  2. Kwisatz

    Kwisatz 500+ Posts

    I liked it, but I understand the criticism of the plot. It was all about wrapping up the Vespa storyline from the last movie and setting up the Quantum storyline for future movies. It doesn't stand on its own very well.

    They are re-inventing the Bond character one movie at a time, and this was the "Bond as a blunt instrument" installment. Personally I like the new action-hero Bond, and the move away from all the hokey gadgets.
     
  3. Macanudo

    Macanudo 2,500+ Posts

    Vespa

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    Vesper

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    I saw it last night and enjoyed it. Personally, I thought they did a great job of setting up Bond more as Fleming wrote him. The carry over on the story line is intriguing too. Too many of the previous Bond movies were entirely too cheesy simply because the villians were so over the top. Here, we have an unknown opponent that Bond is trying to find.

    As for the charm and style. Look at how Bond dresses throughout the movie. Even at the end in Kazan, he's sitting there in a suit and sharp tie. And when the Consulate chick takes him to the crappy hotel in La Paz, what does he do? "Nope, sorry, this wont do." And he checks into a sweet *** hotel instead.

    This version has a lot more angles of Bond to explore still.
     
  4. aUTfan

    aUTfan 2,500+ Posts

    Craig is one of my favorite Bond guys right now, albeit I've only seen one of his Bond movies but to me he ranks up there with Connery and Moore at this point, not saying he is equal. It's easy to tell that they want to take Bond a different direction with Craig as too many cheasy Bond movies over the last 15 years have ruined the name.
     
  5. texas_ex2000

    texas_ex2000 2,500+ Posts


     
  6. softlynow

    softlynow 1,000+ Posts

    Maybe LonghornLawyer made the same Vespa/Vesper mistake. That would explain that particular lifestyle choice.
     
  7. softlynow

    softlynow 1,000+ Posts

    I enjoyed it, give it a B-, but the very end needed something more. I won't spoil it for anyone though, just thought it a very tepid way to end what was really one story line through two movies. I do see promise for the direction they're headed with the character.
     
  8. Macanudo

    Macanudo 2,500+ Posts


     
  9. formermav43

    formermav43 250+ Posts

    In reply to:


     
  10. crazyquiverlips

    crazyquiverlips 100+ Posts

    This movie is terrible. I could not tell what was going on most of the time, jumping from one scene to another with no flow at all. The fighting scenes were atrocious with the shaky camera. I had no idea who vesper was. It's like they combined MI, Bourne, and POTC2 for one stupid movie. I think I'll pass on the next one.
     
  11. RabidLonghorn

    RabidLonghorn 1,000+ Posts

    The original stories of Bond he was a ruthless killer, the funny stuff came from the heads of the screen writers of the movies.
     
  12. aUTfan

    aUTfan 2,500+ Posts

    Yeah i liked MOORE. All Bond movies have far fetched scenes, but from Moore to the present they were even more so but also had actors that didn't fit the part. In my opinion the best actors for the part have been 1)Connery 2) Moore 3) Craig but Craig will pass Moore very soon. I can't help it if you can't separate Moore's Bond acting with his post Bond acting and gigs which totally sucked balls. FWIW...acting and Bond's movies leave a lot to be desired, I'm only comparing all of the Bond actors to themselves not the characters and actors of "The Godfather".
     
  13. Pepper Brooks

    Pepper Brooks 250+ Posts

    I wrote this review earlier. I think the critics missed the point on this one. apparetly they were not the only ones.

    I thought QS was awesome. I think people wanting it to be like CR missed the point here. This one is a continuation, but he is now on a rampage to track down the killers of his lover. Thus the reason for the extreme pace and action of the film. I think the pace and level of action is a bit symbolic of his sense of urgency to track these people down. I think the poor reviewers kind of missed the point of this. I also think the little caveat at the very very end is a bit telling that this is only the beginning of this whole thing. I am really looking forward to where this goes. I also loved how they moved along, and firmly cemented the relationship with Bond and M. That was really great stuff IMO. OVerall I think this movie was exactly what was needed to move the story along. I think there were certainly some holes in the plot, but the overall impact was solid and accomplished what it should have IMO.
     
  14. AFhorn82

    AFhorn82 100+ Posts

    I liked the movie but didn't love it. I'm sure the gentleman who palyed the main villian is a teriffic actor but he just didn't seem scary enough I kept wondering when he was going to stop looking startled. The Bolivian genral/rapist reminded me of Juan Valdez in fatigues. I liked the absence of gadgets and loved the intro chase scene. I was little disappointed in the Bond chick. Hot yes but how many Bond chicks aren't? Her accent was very off at times (she's from Eastern Europe I believe) and there wasn't much depth to her character. The ending was pretty slick, though I wish the audience would get to figure out what Bond learns from the dude. Overall, definitely worth the ticket price.
     
  15. Macanudo

    Macanudo 2,500+ Posts


     
  16. l00p

    l00p 10,000+ Posts

    This is the consumate Bond. Young, learning yet has lots to teach..with his fists. He is brash yet cultured. He likes the refined things yet does not mind getting his heart broken. The womanizing Bond now has a defined reason why.

    I like this Bond more than the others. He is still rough around the edges and with time he will mellow out some and gain more tools beyond violence. But as some have said, this is more of what Fleming had in mind, ruthless, cold.

    So think about how many times people ***** that movies stray too much from an author's rendition. Now people grumble when it is closer to the original as it was intended. It is impossible to please everybody always.

    In some ways I like this Bond more than Connery, not so much in others. I always wished Bond was more of a legitimate badass in the early ones. I often wished Roger Moore never got into acting. Whoever said the last few Bond movies were lacking is spot on.
     
  17. HornOnTheBayou

    HornOnTheBayou 250+ Posts

    Here's an easy way to remember the Vesper/Vespa difference:
    Riding a Vespa=fail
    Riding a Vesper=win
     
  18. wolfman

    wolfman 1,000+ Posts

    I saw it and I liked it mainly because I like the ruthless version of Bond that Craig delivers. I thought that the plot could have been better and too much of the action was shot from not a wide enough perspective.
     
  19. Summerof79

    Summerof79 2,500+ Posts

    Unfortunately many of you younger folks were forced to suffer through non Connery James Bond films....

    Thunderball was my first movie, Lawrence of Arabia my second (or at least in very close proximity in my fading memory).

    Craig is a on level with Sean Connery and that is saying a lot if you are a Bond Fan. If you are not a Bond fan then you won't find this one much better than a a better Borne movie. If you are a bond fan it's interesting to see the blending of the past Bond and bringing him up to date. What's good about this Bond is that you are seeing the gradual evolving of the "blunt instument."

    We watched Casino Royale a day or so later, just to bring the movie bach home, and I woudl suggest renting it before seeing the new one just to refresh.

    if you are a Bond fan you will like Quantum of Solace, if you are not a Bond fan you can still enjoy it... As it's a real BOND movie! You get to see some beautiful location scenery, some beautiful women, and some big screen high end stunts, explosions and a decent story. Casino Royale was the rebirth of Bond and Quantum of Solace was another chapter in the larger book.

    It's good enough to see and better than a lot of the crap out this last year.
     
  20. Hu_Fan

    Hu_Fan Guest

    lately I'm saving all movies for home DVD / BluRay on my Panasonic HD... I can rent on Netflix to review the film, and the picture quality is stunning compared to the best theaters... and I don't have to put up with a dumb crowd and insane concession prices... and I can deal with the quality of the movie in a more controlled way. If they are bad, they are less intrusive on my senses, is what I mean.
     
  21. MaduroUTMB

    MaduroUTMB 2,500+ Posts

    Excellent film. I think that the people who didn't like it are trying to evaluate it by itself, which is a mistake. These films are a series, and this installment is a solid addition and evolution of the series. Some of you are stuck in the in media res of the prior series, which doesn't apply here.
     
  22. Third Coast

    Third Coast 10,000+ Posts


     
  23. evolujohn

    evolujohn 100+ Posts

    I miss Sherriff J.W. Pepper
    [​IMG]
     
  24. NoColon

    NoColon 25+ Posts

    no love for Lazenby?
     
  25. Wulaw Horn

    Wulaw Horn 1,000+ Posts

    Ok- I've seen all the bond's (or at least I think I have- definately like 20) but I'm confused about the last two-

    Are we starting over with James Bond? Is Casino Royale supposed to be his first mission? Was it a remake of a prior one. Is every actor playing James Bond or is James Bond just a code name for agent 007 and it becomes a new agent everytime the old one gets dispatched.

    I seem to remember Bond being married in one of the old ones and his wife being done in (in Columbia maybe).

    Help me understand this.

    Also- spoiler alert question









    at the end of the movie he tells M that she was right about Vesper. What had she said about Vesper in the previous movie that Bond said she was right about?
     
  26. Statalyzer

    Statalyzer 10,000+ Posts


     
  27. PipFunatUT

    PipFunatUT 500+ Posts


     
  28. Hornin Hong Kong

    Hornin Hong Kong 1,000+ Posts


     
  29. FAST FRED

    FAST FRED 500+ Posts

    I enjoyed "Quantum of Solace" and agree with various points made by other posters on this thread who also liked it.

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    This movie will best be seen, IMHO, with "Casino Royale," the first movie starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, still fresh in your mind.

    It's a continuation of that storyline and I think you need to know what's come before to get the full impact.


    [​IMG]


    Things I would have liked better:

    A little more sex would have pleased me, but I could say that about almost any movie.

    A couple more interesting gadgets would have been OK by me too.

    The pace was fast and that was cool, but a quick visit to Q's armory or some on screen sack time with Strawberry Fields would have been well-received by this 007 fan, who's been reading and watching James Bond since the '60s.

    And less of the choppy editing, as it's featured in The Bourne Trilogy, would certainly have made me a happier viewer.

    But I liked this movie.

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    James Bond, as played by Daniel Craig, is more like he was in Ian Fleming's books and I dug that distinction.

    Sean Connery's first three, "Dr No," "From Russia With Love" and "Goldfinger" were very good, but after that the film series went downhill faster than than a tuxedo-wearing secret agent man on skis being chased down a steep, snowy slope by SPECTRE bad guys on snowmobiles equipped with automatic weapons and rocket launchers.

    The other Bond flicks were less than memorable, IMHO, with the Roger Moore films being cartoonish and even silly.

    I continued to go because they were decent date movies, featuring many pretty good parts but lots of pretty bad parts.

    I saw a whole bunch of those flicks at the drive in.

    Elvis Presley movies and James Bond flicks were always playing at the local passion pit.

    You and your date could selectively multitask while "watching" those movies

    [​IMG]

    If upcoming Bond movies live up to the promise of "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace," featuring more of the style of Fleming's books and less of the choppy cinematography and editing as showcased in the Jason Bourne films, I will pay more attention and be pleased.

    I enjoy both James and Jason, but Bond and Bourne are different for me as are the CIA and MI-6 and I think their movies benefit from different presentations, characterizations and vibes.

    [​IMG]
     
  30. LocoGringos

    LocoGringos 250+ Posts

    I give it a solid B. I'm not a fan of hand-cam quick cut edits, but this didn't bother me too much. They didn't one-up anything from a tanker truck racing across the tarmac to blow up a prototype plane and VIPs. Then again, the impulse to one-up results in hideous stupidity like Bond surfing an Arctic tidal wave on a piece of manged wreckage.

    I liked that the cool tech - touch-screen table, face recognition software, GPS phone hijack - was all centered at HQ, but, out in the field, Bond is personally responsible for kicking ***, not relying on laser wristwatches or whatever. Plus MAJOR upgrade in hot chick factor.

    Psuedo spoiler:










    My main problem was a matter of emphasis; as the movie made rather plain, no one really cares about a coup in Bolivia, yet that's the whole plot he's trying to foil in the end. Worse than the coup is that there's a well-connected shadowy crime syndicate who is not only willing but able to bring down governments. The movie, especially being a bridge movie like Two Towers, needed to play this looming threat up much more than it did, raising the stakes for the third movie. They started with this in act 1 and 2, then dropped it in act 3. Maybe they didn't want to end the movie with Bond not achieving the broader goal.
     

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