Intro and Quantum of Solace review

Well, I've wanted to start a Blog for a while, and so what do i do, i start three of course. Don't know really what I'm going to do with all of them, but hopefully I'll update them faithfully. So without further adieu, I'll get right into it.

Who am I? In keeping with today's review, you can call me Scott, RileyScott. I'll be your humble host through the world of cinema. My qualifications for this job are as follows:

-I wrote a few movie reviews for my college paper
-I worked in a movie theater for four years
-I worked in Hollywood Video/Blockbuster for a combined 3 years

So basically I have some writing experience, I've seen more then my fair share of movies, and I enjoy sharing my opinions with others. I also try and keep the spoilers to a minimum, but sometimes it cannot be avoided.

NOW PLAYING:

Quantum of Solace

Starring:

	Daniel Craig	...	James Bond
	Olga Kurylenko	...	Camille
	Mathieu Amalric	...	Dominic Greene
	Judi Dench	...	M

Director: Marc Forster






Plot:
Quantum picks up where Casino Royale left off. Now, by that I don't mean that it fast forwards a few years/months and then something brings back the old plot line...no, I mean this is a week, maybe two later. This is the first Bond to do this, and it gives the movie a feeling of urgency that I don't think it would have had otherwise. It is also the shortest Bond film ever, clocking in at a measly 106 minutes. Another first is Bond's(Craig) motivation. In this film you see a heartbroken man, torn by the betrayal of his lover, and the revenge he desires for her death. This image of pain and loss, and the inner conflict of his own motives is portrayed very subtly by Craig, but believably I think. The movie's plot centers around Bond trying to find the organization hinted at in the last film, and brought into more of an obvious light in the beginning of this film. This organization called Quantum, is portrayed very well, the opera scene in particular, I thought, was very well done, and provided believability to how this "organization that no government agency in the world knows about" could exist. Through the film, Bond ends up killing basically any and all people he's assigned to "gather information" from, turning his own agency after him. Thinking that he's gone mad with grief, M (Dame Judy Dench in a thankfully much more robust role this time around) tells Bond to come in. When he defies her, they send other agents after him. The CIA is also after Bond for interfering in what they think is a lucrative Oil Deal, but are actually being manipulated by Quantum as a tool to both further their ultimate plan, and take out Bond. During all this spy vs. spy, sneaking around action, which their is a lot of, Bond does meet his leading lady. They run into each other by being in the right place and the right time...twice. i should go into more about her I guess, but I just did not feel this girl's appeal. I didn't enjoy her performance, and it seemed as if she was not needed for the plot at all. Also, in keeping with the spirit of the new films, another first happens here, Bond actually doesn't get the girl. He does get A girl of course...it's Bond, but not the leading lady.

Pros:
Daniel Craig as Bond: I have only seen the newer bond films (Goldeneye and up), so to me, Pierce Brosnan was a great bond. I have to give it to Daniel Craig though, he has surpassed any expectation placed on him to play Bond. I enjoyed him in Casino Royale, and I enjoyed him here. He has the right look(blond hair and all), and he definitely can act. Craig gave a very believable bond performance, and a unique one, with Bond conflicted and vengeful at the same time.

Judy Dench: After more then 6 bond films, Dame Judy Dench finally gets a little screen time. And she is always a scene stealer whenever she is on screen. Very nice performance.

Tech: The tech in Bond has gone from believable to way out there and back again. In this movie, the tech was very subtle, and I enjoyed this. Obviously, the camera in Bond's phone would be light years ahead of our current generation. And the surface and "wall as a screen applications" were used very well. My wife enjoyed the business card as a tracking device, complete with fake phone number and answering machine on the other end. The thing that struck me though, was that for the first time, the tech was maybe only a rev or two above what is available to consumers today, and therefore we as the audience didn't have to stretch our minds too much to see this being reality in non-civilian applications.

The plot: One of the tightest Bond plot's I've ever seen, and I highly enjoyed the story as brief as it was. It was always moving, but never too fast for the audience. All the necessary story elements were given enough screen time in between the action.

Cons:
The Action: I wish I could point out one scene, or one sequence, or even one half of the film. Unfortunately, I cannot do so. The Director Marc Forster has directed very good pieces of film such as Finding Neverland and Stranger than Fiction. This is his first Action oriented film as far as I know, and man did he drop the ball. The producers seem to being riding the "Bourne path of success", where the first movie (in this case Royale) set up a great universe, and re energized or launched a franchise. Then they bring in a new director and screw the whole thing up. Up until this point I was a fan of Forster's work. Now however, he has ruined what would have been the first Bond movie I would have wanted to own. This movie is over 40% action. I mean it has car chases, roof chases, hand to hand fights, trapeze gun fights (no really), boat chases, I mean it has everything. And every single sequence is RUINED by shotty camera work and horrible editing. Like the Bourne Supremacy, every action shot it blurred, or cut WAY to short, to try and give you some kind of viseral reaction to what's going on. This however only frustrates me. I go to the movies to see big car chases, and cool spy martial arts, not have the camera blur and move like I'm "in the fight/chase", and obscure the bit of action that i wanted to see. If i wanted that, i would go to Youtube. This could be a lone opinion, but I went with 7 other people, and the entire conversation post movie was about what people has missed in the action bits. unless you are use to this kind of movie editing, you will miss A LOT of what is going on in the action sequences.

Synopsis: A good Bond film, with decent storytelling and acting. Action suffers from horrible editing, and generally ruins the film for those trying to follow those parts.

Ratings out of 10:
Performance: 8
Plot: 8
Action/Special effects: 4 (7 if you don't mind the camera work)
Enjoyment of experience: 5
Desire to own: 3