SYNOPSIS:
Daniel Craig returns as James Bond in this thrilling, action-packed
adventure which starts shortly after Casino Royale
ends. Betrayed by the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to
make his latest mission personal. On a nonstop quest for justice
that crisscrosses the globe, Bond meets the beautiful but feisty
Camille (Olga Kurylenko), who leads him to Dominic Greene (Mathieu
Amalric), a ruthless businessman and major force within the
mysterious “Quantum” organization. When Bond uncovers
a conspiracy to take control of one of the world’s most
important natural resources, he must navigate a minefield of
treachery, deception and murder to neutralize “Quantum”
before it's too late!
MOVIE REVIEW:
Grossing
over US$500 million worldwide at the box-office with majority
of the critics raving over it, "Casino Royale" marks
the successful reboot of the renowned 007 franchises and established
Daniel Craig as the new leading man.
Two
years later, British actor Craig again returns as the beloved
spy in "Quantum of Solace" but this time round Quantum
took a beating from the critics but still audience embraced
it.
Let’s
just dive straight to the facts why critics hated Quantum.
Royale was an old fashioned spy thriller akin to the original
grand old James Bond classics that starred Sean Connery. Director
Martin Campbell took his time to slowly develop the plot,
the various characters and stages elaborate action sequences
to excite the audience. Whereas Quantum on the other hand
took a sudden 360 degrees turn, under the hands of Marc Foster,
Quantum begins with a wild car chase and ends up with a huge
pyrotechnics explosion and intercut with dozens of action
scenes that will have you breathless.
But
wait a minute. Where’s the story heading? The weak setup
of the plot could be due to the fact that it continues immediately
after Casino Royale. Remember something about a mysterious
organization? It turns out that a corporate villain, Dominic
Greene (Mathieu Amalric) is behind all the evil-doings and
his ultimate aim is to seize control of a large desert region
with the help of a certain General Medrano. The ever committed
Bond then begins to track down Greene with the assistance
of Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko) who has an agenda of her
own.
Strangly
coming from the original scribers of Royale, Paul Haggis,
Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the development of Greene unfortunately
dampens the viewing experience as he is weakly written here
despite Amalric’s menacing performance. Judi Dench is
still remarkably mesmerizing as M, Bond girls Olga Kurylenko
and Gemma Arterton while never matches Michelle Yeoh’s
turn in "Tomorrow Never Dies" is commendable.
Bond
who was last seen betrayed by love is nothing but a loose
cannon here. He leaps across parapet, jumps on a boat chase
and even pilot a plane. The hands-on gritty bruised Bond that
we got to know from Royale is back again but the frantic editing
which seems to run on Red Bull makes things a lot less comprehend.
Another thing is the transition of the James Bond character
is too similar to Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne trilogy
which some might find repulsive. The cool-headed familiar
Bond who finds time to bed a lot of pretty women and sipping
his shaken martini is apparently nowhere to be seen.
Foster
who helmed the award-winning "Monsters Ball" and
dramas such as "The Kite Runner" and "Finding
Neverland" simply is out of his range here. Taking on
his first action movie and a well-known screen character,
his usual traits of storytelling is nowhere visible in Quantum
with the exception of the lush cinematography of the various
locations. I’m not at all surprised most of the sequences
are even handled by second unit director and stunt coordinator
Dan Bradley.
Perhaps
this is a closing chapter on the beginning of James Bond,
Quantum is just a setup for further things to come. Watching
Casino Royale and Quantum back-to-back might be thus far more
enjoyable. However, diehard action fans might love Quantum
for all the crazy Bourne style action. Alas it’s too
far removed from the original Ian Fleming’s novels for
faithful Bond’s followers.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Disc One contains the feature film, the teaser
and final theatrical trailers and "Another
Way To Die" Music Video performed by Jack White
and Alicia Keys. A song blasted by many for being not James
Bond-like although personally I have no qualms about it.
Disc Two:
Bond
On Location – In this 24 minutes featurette,
we learnt that the crew went to places such as Panama for
location scouting and some snippets of behind-the-scenes.
Start
of Shooting - A short 2 minutes feature that has
director Marc Foster talking on the first day of shooting
on January 3, 2008.
On
Location – This is a redundant feature consider
that the topic on hand was already extensively covered in
an earlier featurette.
Olga
Kurylenko and the Boat Chase Sequence – Another
short clip that showcases Bond girl Olga Kurylenko shooting
her first stunt in the boat chase sequence.
Director
Marc Forster – The cast and crew talks about
Foster in this 2 minutes feature.
Music
– Interview with the film composer David Arnold
and footages of him hard at work at the film’s score
in his studio.
Crew
Files – This is a tedious featurette which
clocks at 45 minutes. It covers brief interviews with the
various crew members of Quantum of Solace ranging from set
designer to stuntman etc.
Obviously
the producers are holding back on the extra features in this
2-Disc edition. There might be a 3-Disc edition of Quantum
along the way once the next Bond adventure starts to roll
into theatres.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The DVD is presented in anamorphic 2.35:1.
Details are sharp and vivid and colours are darker, desaturated
to suit the whole gritty look of the new Bond. The Dolby 5.1
surround is very active and loud when it comes to the frantic
action sequences, the perfect title to showcase your home
theatre setup.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
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