Quantum of Solace

I didn't particularly enjoy Quantum of Solace when I saw it last night (too disjointed, too much of a let-down from the superb Casino Royale) until my friend Terrie - with whom I saw the film - pointed out that they've essentially recast Bond not as the mythical secret agent hero of the old 60s and 70s classics but as a deeply unhinged serial-killer whose sociopathic rampages merely happen to be licensed by his morally-bankrupt government. When you look at it that way, it's actually a pretty good film.   

Comments

[RNB]

Exactly. Well said. Almost the first honest review that I've seen.

I'd go further. (in fact I have) The new Bond film is now more of a typical big-budget one-man rage against the machine revenge action movie. It could almost be Bourne, Rambo, Die Hard or a million others. It's lost the special Bond magic.

And I'd go even further. Criticism of Bond in general. The supposed villain is almost always, in the older films too, more interesting, more charismatic, even more merciful than the fairly one-dimensional cold-hearted hero. The alleged megalomaniac visionary must have some good to inspire such devotion amongst so many followers. I'd root for the baddie every time, except that he always loses in the end.

[cuedaddy]

Well said. May I add the analogy of an artwork. Casino Royale was ART. This was not. Now an artist, when painting a masterpiece, simply cannot bend the creativity required to the constraints of a time-line + budget. No doubt the money to be made dictated the showing of this film. A book could be written about how it has failed.