Nik Nak’s Old Peculiar: Quantum of Solace: A Measure of Peace, for a Penny

Tuesday 7 April 2009

Quantum of Solace: A Measure of Peace, for a Penny

I’ve got to admit, Adrian does manage to work the library system; he manage to get hold of Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig’s second screen performance as James Bond.

And it’s definitely one to watch.

It doesn’t necessarily add anything new to the series, which Casino Royale — by going back to the novel, as far as possible whilst keeping the story as modern as possible — did, but Quantum of Solace does keep to the darker feel brought to the franchise by its immediate predecessor. Saying that, it does have its lighter moments.

It’s not one of the bouncier Roger Moore entries, though, by any stretch of the imagination: more Goldfinger than Octopussy. And decidedly darker than most.

But possibly a touch lighter than its predecessor.

There’s a scene at the end, where Bond confronts Vesper’s former lover that got my attention: sympathetic to the young woman involved, promising nastiness to the ex-lover, and reaffirming Bond’s loyalty both to the service and to M.

And, given the body count of the film, one that both remind us how potentially violent Bond is, and how he can be capable, not of forgiveness, but of restraint.

It’s also a film that shows us exactly how murky the underworld of the world’s intelligence agencies are; one of the sub-plot’s shows us how the CIA is prepared to do something of a very pragmatic deal with Dominic Greene, the villain of the piece: with only Felix Leiter – played again, by Jeffrey Wright – as the Agency’s conscience, and an informal ally of Bond.

One thing it does do is offer another twist on the Bond Girl, by giving us Olga Kurylenko as the revenge driven Camille Montes. While she’s no Vesper, she’s also not a traditional Bond ‘Good Girl’: one that ends up in bed with him, in other words. It’s a nice change, actually.

And, while we’re talking of changes, that’s something that hasn’t.

Or maybe I should quote Quark’s last line, in tonight’s final episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same…”.

Something I noticed is Quantum of Solace’s introduction of Quantum, the shadowy organisation that Dominic Greene — played by French actor, Mathias Amalric — is a major figure in.

I’m sort of pleased about this.

One thing that I think does help in a Bond film is a nice big Evil Empire to fight against. In the original Bond novels and films, Bond had both SMERSH and SPECTRE to contend with: something that, these days, Eon Productions can’t use, as the Cold War has … thawed … to say the least.

But, in the two Craig fronted movies, Eon feel they need a replacement.

After all, in the novel of Casino Royale it’s a SMERSH agent, not the character of Mr White, that shoots Le Chiffre.

Which means they needed something to explain what’s going on.

So it’s nice to see the introduction of an old plot element, in new clothes, and viewed through a pair of blood tainted spectacles in order to keep the deep gore-covered feel that the Daniel Craig fronted members of the franchise are aiming for.

And, although Adrian has a point – that it would have been very interesting to see a really retro* Bond film – it’s good, from where I’m sitting, to see how the Bond movie franchise evolves.

Whatever one thinks of it, the films and the original Fleming novels, have gone very different ways, after all.