A Waste of Talent

Rating: 5/10 (20 May 2013)

The big problem with Quantum of Solace isn't that it's a horrible movie - it's better than most Pierce Brosnan headed Bond films, and director Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, Stranger Than Fiction) clearly tried to inject some of his skill and sensitivity into the shots and the pacing. Perhaps, had he been given a stronger screenplay to work with, he might have made it memorable; as it is, Forster's talent is wasted on one of the most forgettable, unnecessary Bond films ever made. Even the silliest of Roger Moore adventures had more to make them stand out and make an impression than this one.
It's possible that this feeling derives partly from the fact that Quantum of Solace was intended as a direct sequel to Casino Royale, more so than any Bond movie made before; but more than a sequel, it feels like an appendix to that other film. Casino Royale made a mark partly thanks to the novelty of Daniel Craig as Bond and of the darker, more realistic atmosphere, which Quantum of Solace follows, but it also had a simple yet intriguing story, a memorable villain and an interesting romantic interest - all of which Quantum of Solace lacks. Mathieu Amalric makes for one of the most nondescript of all Bond villains, and his fiendish plot is far less fiendish and far more complicated than it needs to be to get us interested; the Bond girls (Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton) barely have anything to tell them apart.
Instead of a coherent story, gripping action scenes or interesting characters, Quantum of Solace attempts to make a larger point about the nature of revenge, but the script isn't good enough to give that any weight. Craig does his best, as does Judi Dench, and their scenes together are by far the strongest parts of the film, but since we're talking about a Bond film after all, these little moments of human drama take up a very small part of the film, and the rest just doesn't work well enough. Quantum of Solace, despite having possibly the shortest runtime of all Bond movies, manages to be more confusing and complicated than most; and at the same time, feel like little more than an interlude between Casino Royale and Skyfall, making me feel that it could have just been inserted into an extended version of the first Craig film. Bond enthusiasts may want to check it out, but it's a film that the rest of us can easily live without.