Quantum of Solace

Rating: 5/10 (17 November 2008)

I went to see QOS today and gotta tell ya I wasn't really disappointed, then again, I didn't have very high expectations for this movie. I had been reading some reviews so I just went to see QOS expecting an action movie and nothing more than that..
The action scenes were OK I guess, though quite messy at times & very short which made it hard to follow. I would have loved for them to be longer than just a few miserable seconds. It would have been a huge improvement. This Bond movie has a lot in common with the Bourne franchise, which is not a good thing cause it's Bond and not Bourne. But many before me have already said that so i'll stop here.
I really missed all the classic Bond elements like his famous introduction 'Bond. James Bond.' and him ordering his favorite drink 'Vodka-Martini. Shaken, not stirred.' & of course dear old Q and his smart, cool, sometimes silly but very efficient gadgets. I can understand that they want to boost up the franchise, using a different approach but please insert at least one Classic, typical Bond element in future movies. Bond movies have been around for - how long? Nearly 40 years I think, it's not right to just throw everything that made Bond.. well Bond.. overboard.
And I have to agree with the people who found the villain not as bad as supposed to be in a Bond movie, cause he really wasn't that much of a villain. He was pretty lame. I think even I could have beaten the crap out of him without having to be a Secret Agent. Where have all those baddies gone that strife for World Domination? However, one of the scenes that shocked me the most, was the one where his friend Mathis - after being locked up in the trunk of Bond's car - gets shot and then dies in Bond's arms in the middle of the street. Bond seems a bit emotional then, but after the guy's dead he just dumps the body in a huge container full of garbage.. What the? M said 'One must be a pretty cold hearted bastard if he didn't revenge the death of the ones he loved.' Well, the way he just rid himself of his friend's dead body sure was cold hearted. 'He doesn't care..' Right. Even if he didn't, it doesn't mean you actually have to go and do something so cold and heartless like you don't give a damn.
And what originality. Not only were they mimicking the Bourne franchise for a large part of the movie, they also had to insert a scene similar to the Famous scene from 'Goldfinger' with the dead girl painted in Gold, only now Miss Fields was covered in oil. The movie really could have done without but it seems they just had to add it. Why? is beyond me. Speaking of Bondgirls, I didn't see the need for a character like Miss Fields. She was supposed to bring Bond back, instead she ends up in his bed and gets herself killed afterwards. Camille, I liked.
Some of you compare this movie to 'Licence to Kill', a modern day version. I thought that LTK had a bit more humor and that Dalton's Bond wasn't such a cold hearted & ruthless killer like Craig's Bond in QOS. (I like Dalton more than Craig too..) But okay, yes, there are similarities but I like LTK a lot more than QOS. Same goes for the Soundtrack, though I got used to the unusual song of Keys & White. I guess it has grown on me.
So, overall, I quite liked it for an action flick but it's definitely not a Bond movie in my opinion. For that, I give it a 5/10.