Powerful Solace

Rating: 9/10 (15 November 2008)

Daniel Craig may be the screen's most powerful and dangerous Bond. He embodies a ferocious focus and intensity as Agent 007. I had read in a "Playboy" interview that Craig got physically bigger so that Bond would look like he could kill anyone. Director Marc Forster's "Quantum of Solace" is the decidedly dark and brutal tale of vengeance and solace. Under his direction the action is visually spectacular, visceral, and menacing. In the opening Bond (Craig) precariously navigates through a high speed chase on a coastal road in Italy. Subsequently, Bond battles traitor Mitchell (strong Glenn Foster) after both breathtakingly crash though a church glass ceiling. All the fighting has martial arts flairkick-boxing and aikido. The gun play is deadly and precise. Daniel Craig's Bond is even more singular in purpose than "Casino Royale". This is an unexpected turn with Marc Forster at the helm. Forster among other films directed "Finding Neverland". Forster along with Academy Award Winner Paul Haggis ("Crash" and "Million Dollar Baby"), and co-writers Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade create the darker Bond and shed insight into the man he eventually becomes. To that end Daniel Craig is amazingly powerful.
"Quantum of Solace" resumes where "Casino Royale" ended. Seems that Mr. White (calmly evil Jesper Christensen), the man responsible for Vesper's death, is part of a clandestine global organization Quantum. Vesper was the love of James's life. Consequently, Bond seeks revenge on the man ultimately responsible for Vesper's deaththat would be entrepreneur ecologist Dominic Greene (shifty Mathieu Amalric). In his mission seemingly governed by inconsolable rage Bond leaves an aftermath of death and destruction. Bond's concerned mentor M (the strong and amazing Judi Dench) warns Bond, "When you can't tell your friends from your enemies, it's time to go." Bond reminds M, "You don't have to worry about me." Fearing that James may turn rogue, M pulls the network from Bond, leaving him an island. As his last resort, Bond seeks out Mathis (world weary Giancarlo Gianni), the man who betrayed him in "Casino Royale". Mathis discerns Bond's wounded soul. He tells him that Vesper loved him. Bond replies, "Until the moment she betrayed me." Craig is brilliant in masking Bond's pain in his focused rage. Ultimately, whatever happens, he has to let it go.
Bond aligns with an unlikely partner in vengeancethe beautiful Russian Camille (strong and stunning Olga Kurylenko). Camille had become Greene's lover so that she can kill his business partner General Medrano (arrogant and smug Joaquin Cosio). Camille bares the physical scars and the emotional anguish of the General's horrific acts upon her family. It is unclear exactly what Quantum has to do with all this, but Greene's motives are anything but altruistic.
Kurylenko is surprising. As Camille she is not all what she seems. She is smart and embodies a warrior's spirit. Here Forster and Haggis poignantly comment on the futility and cost of vengeance. In a quiet moment Camille asks James if he had killed the man responsible for the death of the woman he loved. James says, "No, not yet." Camille confesses, "Tell me when you do I'd like to know how it feels." In middle of the Bolivian desert before both embark on their missions of vengeance Bond instructs Camille, "This kill is personal make it count" Cold harsh words. The paradox is that dispassionate vengeance is always personal, and it only costs the exacter. The understated partnership of Craig and Kurylenko is powerful in "Quantum of Solace". Forster orchestrates some of the most spectacular roof top chases, deadly fight scenes, and electrifying aerial sequences. Amidst it all Craig and Kurylenko generate the emotional resonance. And in the end we don't get some flip line, rather an insight into the part of himself that Bond forfeits to become 007.
If there is one weakness, it is the villain Greene. As played by Amalric, he is not a formidable rival to Craig's Bond. Even Kurylenko is stronger. Granted Craig's Bond is perhaps the screen's most forceful. However, this was also the case in "Casino Royale". Perhaps, in the next Bond, Haggis creates a villain equal in persona to Craig's Bond.
"Quantum of Solace" is perhaps the best Bond movie. It is not perfect. However, it is hard edged and relentless, delivering a resounding catharsis. Daniel Craig is amazing. Olga Kurylenko is nearly his equal. "Quantum of Solace" is one of the year's most satisfying movies.