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Ranking James Bond Films: #21 – “Quantum Of Solace” (2008)
Quantum Of Solace is beyond a stepdown from Craig’s debut film, Casino Royale.
“James Bond and the Japanese Secret Service must find and stop the true culprit of a series of space hijackings, before war is provoked between Russia and the United States.”
Director: Marc Forster
Writers: Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade
Cast: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Jeffrey Wright, David Harbour, Jesper Christensen
Release Date: November 14, 2008
IMDB
What an absolute mess. Quantum Of Solace is beyond a stepdown from Craig’s debut film, Casino Royale. To have this disaster of a movie be the follow-up to Martin Campbell’s critical and box office reboot is a crime.
Quantum Of Solace‘s final product is like an elementary school child smooshing together soggy puzzle pieces. The plot, which picks up immediately after the great final scene of Casino Royale, ends up being a mish-mosh of Bond striving for revenge accompanied by a bad Bond villain who’s unfortunately portrayed by Mathieu Amalric.
The action in Solace is terrible, and that stems from a script that was constantly under revision because of the Hollywood writer’s strike. The entire movie-making process was rushed, and the constant pushing of the gas pedal resulted in just five weeks to edit the whole film. For reference, director Marc Forster would, on average, take 14 weeks to edit his previous films.
Olga Kurylenko is not a good female lead alongside Craig. Playing the part of Camille, one never feels the chemistry needed for a pair that shares a ton of screen time. Gemma Arterton becomes part of the shallow Bond girl and dies in an homage to Goldfinger. Her talents are wasted because she shared more with Craig in her five minutes than anything Kurylenko had brought.
Quantum Of Solace is a bad movie. The fact that they rushed it, given the writer’s strike and all the production issues, makes it an even more depressing watch.
Also, it is very interesting that Ian Fleming is not credited as a writer at all.
STANKO RATING: D
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Ranking James Bond Films: #20 – “The World Is Not Enough” (1999)
I’m terribly sorry, but Denise Richards drains the swamp with her role in The World Is Not Enough.
STANKO UPDATE: THE WEDDING FAST APPROACHES…(INSERT DRAMATIC MUSIC)
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