Quantum of Solace (2008) Review

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Quantum of Solace follows James Bond, on a personal mission to hunt down those who blackmailed Vesper, leading him to ruthless businessman, Dominic Green, who plans to take total control of Bolivia’s water supply. 

Picking up right where Casino Royale left off, Quantum of Solace drops us right into the action, with Bond taking Vesper’s death very personal (though he keeps claiming to have shut himself off), in a bout to bring down the organization responsible. The issue is, that’s all there is, and it’s left as vague as I just put it. Like SPECTRE (yet to be revealed), QUANTUM is a multinational organization dedicated to destabilizing nations, seeking to control the world from behind the scenes. For obvious reasons, Bond isn’t a fan and spends the whole film chasing them and Green, making this one less about any real story or uncovering a devious plot and just throwing action at the wall to see if it sticks. 

Therein lies the problem with the rest of the movie, I’ve never wanted less action in my entire life and it all comes down to the dizzying style of editing, full of quick nauseating cuts that jump around so much that the action is near impossible to follow, let alone stomach. After about the second or third chase, I genuinely almost switched this off out of pure motion sickness starting to set in. Thankfully, it settles down by the third act but by then, Bond has dug himself such a massive grave and the story has been so lackluster, that it’s hard to even really know why Bond gives a shit about any of these people. 

The cast leaves a lot to be desired as well, featuring Giancarlo Giannini, David Harbour, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright, Joaquín Cosio, Judi Dench, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, and Daniel Craig. Craig obviously does the best he can under the circumstances and is the only redeemer in such a dull movie, with even Amalric coming off less intimidating and more on the squirrelly side. 

Quantum of Solace, directed by Marc Forster, isn’t just a bad Bond film, it’s wholly forgettable, with a loose and lackluster story that doesn’t do itself any favors by throwing some genuinely stomach turning action and editing at us, making this an unenjoyable affair from start to finish. 

3.7/10