He’s your one-stop-shop for extravagant cars, gorgeous women, evil villains, non-stop action and martinis — shaken, not stirred. His name is Bond. James Bond. Strap on your seatbelts and hold on tight, because Agent 007 is back with more “bang” than ever before. “Quantum of Solace” was released Friday as the 22nd installment of the Bond motion picture franchise, the most successful in history. Daniel Craig returns for his second Bond movie, accompanied yet again by Judi Dench as M, head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, aka MI6, and the new face of Olga Kurylenko, who plays ravishing “Bond girl,” Camille Montes.
“Quantum of Solace” picks up literally minutes after the conclusion of the previous film, “Casino Royale,” as 007 escorts the terrorist called Mr. White to Siena, Italy for interrogation. Thirty seconds in, Bond is attacked by a convoy of henchmen with machine guns. After a mile of high-speed pursuit through tunnels and stone quarries, Bond evades the assailants and arrives in Siena. There, Bond and M question Mr. White about the nature of his shady organization, known as Quantum.
New evidence leads Bond to Haiti where he tracks down a contact within Quantum. While there, Bond comes across the stunning Camille Montes, whom he tails to a meeting with Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), the greasy, shifty chairman of an environmentalist organization called Greene Planet.
Apparently, Greene is plotting with exiled General Medrano of Bolivia (Joaquín Cosio) to overthrow the Bolivian government in exchange for a seemingly worthless piece of desert. However, Bond later learns that Greene’s intentions are much more malicious and extensive. For the remainder of the movie, Bond vigorously hunts Greene across the globe, pursued by Quantum and, at times, his own British allies, who believe that ever-obstinate 007 has gone rogue. Meanwhile, Bond struggles internally over the death of Vesper Lynd, his girlfriend from “Casino Royale,” who betrayed him just before drowning in the Grand Canal in Venice.
From the oscillating theme song, to the gorgeous women, to the indispensable adrenaline-pumping Aston Martin car chase, “Quantum of Solace” is the quintessential Bond movie in nearly every way. The film is laced with gunfights, fistfights, knife fights, boat fights and airborne dogfights. Thunderous explosions, barrages of bullets, massive fireballs and collapsing buildings constantly fill the screen, as director Marc Forster takes us from Europe to South America and back.
However, “Quantum of Solace” also stands apart among 007 films thanks to its sentimental and somewhat poignant plot. Multiple moments throughout the script reveal a rarely seen piece of Bond — a hurting heart. Torn between forgiving Vesper, his former love, and forgetting her because of her treachery, Bond appears unbalanced and emotional. However, Craig offsets this image by departing from the sophisticated Bond of previous films, and conveying an intensely gritty, vengeful 007. As a result, we receive both an overload of outrageous action and a softer tone of vulnerability. Overall, “Quantum” is a fantastic sequel to “Casino Royale,” and delivers with tremendous power and punch.
