Quantum of Bourne

Rating: 7/10 (10 November 2008)

Let's start with the good things about this movie: It has an interesting story with a dark organization that wants to rule the world. It has some essential things that I'd expect from a Bond movie and that make watching it a pleasure. The classic intro with guns, smoke, girls, nice music. Yes, many complain about the song and when I heard it first I didn't like it. But it works in combination with that intro. Then there's the Aston Martin which unfortunately ends up as a wreck right in the beginning and wasn't to be seen again. Two cool Bond girls, stunning, witty, brave. Exotic and nice locations. M watching over Bond behind the scenes while threatening to take him out of service.
So why only 7/10? Because there were also some things that were missing (Q, gadgets) and some things that weren't right. I'm still struggling with Craig who is an excellent actor with a great body but who is also too working class and, well, blond. But OK, he makes that up by his acting skills. Really annoying though were the Bourne Ultimatum style cuts. When a chase or fight begins the nice and appropriate pace changed to "one cut per 300 milliseconds", you see blurry details, constantly changing perspectives and a mess that ruins every chance to grasp what's going on. Hell, they said before that they want to address a younger audience. But is a ludicrous cut pace the measure of choice? That was the only part that really, really annoyed me. Several times I closed my eyes. Hell, I like fights and car chases. But I like to be able to follow the action.
So, next time please don't waste great fight choreography by cutting it to microscopic, blurry and shaky pieces.