Quantum's good enough and unique to watch

Rating: 8/10 (8 November 2008)

After two years of waiting, I finally watched Quantum of Solace expecting another unforgettable adventure as well as another great 007 performance from Daniel Craig (the best Bond since Connery).
I am surprised somewhat with the way the film turned out. As the 22nd Bond film, this one takes a noticeable departure from the trends that defined the franchise. Gadgets are nowhere, no Miss Moneypenny, the James Bond theme only plays with the end credits, and no "Bond, James Bond".
Fortunately, the departure led to a unique kind of story for Bond. While past films featured the agent fighting megalomaniacs, Quantum puts Bond into the middle of big mess in the intelligence community. Not only that, Bond is struggling with the loss of Vesper, thus hurting himself emotionally. He gets suspected of taking things personally when he's supposed to do his assignments professionally. Luckily, Daniel Craig delivered a very human portrayal of Bond that few could imagine.
Quantum has lots of action and stunts, but I must admit I was bothered with the MTV-style editing (too fast and dizzying) and I was annoyed with how the action scenes mimicked the style of the recent Jason Bourne flicks. Is this Bourne or Bond?! You watch and decide! The story does have some originality in it. Let's face the fact that in the global economy, nations compete with each other for foreign investments. That aspect is pushed to the extreme in the film with Greene's scheme and deal with Bolivia. True enough, some governments out there make deals with these kinds of "investors" even if it would mean danger. The bargaining, selling and functioning of such deals each have risks to both the investor and the authority. More importantly, such deals complicate matters in the international intelligence community, and in this film it causes division between and within state intelligence. Come to think of it, the last time I saw deep intelligence politics as far as the Bond movies go was in 1963's From Russia With Love.
Overall, Quantum of Solace is a worthy sequel. It does not really try to outdo Casino Royale, but then again it does not need to. For one thing, Bond himself still has a lot to dig and dig within MI6. The Quantum organization is the 21st century's answer to SPECTRE of the past, and there is no denying that MI6 now has a real problem to watch out for. True enough, a new espionage war is brewing and Bond must do what he can for Queen and Country.
Score: 8 out of 10