QUANTUM OF SOLACE

Deeply affected by the death of his one true love, agent 007 is out for revenge. He discovers that a secret organization is responsible for her demise and subsequently unravels a scheme to control Bolivia's most vital resource.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE is directed by Marc Forster. Daniel Craig stars as James Bond, with Judi Dench (M), Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter) and Mathieu Amalric (Dominic Greene) comprising the supporting cast. The latest "Bond Girl" (Camille) is played by Olga Kurylenko.

Although QUANTUM OF SOLACE is the 22^nd film in the Bond franchise, it is only the 2^nd film that uses the new "prequel" formula. This revamped modus operandi which places focus on 'realism' as opposed to 'spectacle,' may sound interesting on paper but it falls far short visually. The film begins a few minutes after the end of CASINO ROYALE, with a car chase through Nice and Monte Carlo, ending in Italy. This action sequence is chock full of music video style quick cuts that'll even make the Video Game Generation feel nauseated. The plot tries so hard to have a gritty real world conflict but ends up being a mind numbing bore. Gone are the days where Bond Villains aspired for world domination, no this villain is content with getting control of a developing country's water supply. I certainly hope that the 23^rd Bond flick will not have its villain trying to control the supply of Sri Lanka's coconut arrack; now that would be an apocalyptic situation for us islanders. Watching the trailer, I felt intrigued by this sinister organization that has even managed to elude MI-6, but sadly the film depicted this secret establishment as a group of greedy chicken-shit businessmen. I felt that the writers were more concerned about how to present the clue or incident that will lead Bond to a new locale and simply failed to develop a plot. Having Bond travel from Italy to Haiti and then to Bolivia misdirects the audience into thinking there's a reason for all those frequent flyer miles.

The simple truth is that the plot is absurdly boring and pretentious, similar to another film co-written by Paul Haggis, CRASH (2004). Haggis is also responsible for penning this film's predecessor CASINO ROYALE, which was even more dreadful. Those witty one-liners that Bond is known for have been replaced by very little and at most times no dialogue at all. In fact Judi Dench's M speaks more than Bond. The suave secret agent of yesteryears has been swapped for a thuggish assassin hell bent on being a 'fighter, not a lover.'

The cinematography is needless to say faultless because this is after all a big budget extravaganza. It is clear that the money was mostly channeled into the special FX and set design departments. There are no complaints in regards to the technical aspect of the film.

Daniel Craig is undoubtedly a talented actor, he does justice to the material he has been given. Judi Dench and Jeffrey Wright are believable in their respective roles. Mathieu THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY Amalric is sorely underused as the two dimensional villain, who probably may be the most dreary villain in Bond history. But it is fact that Olga Kurylenko is by far the dullest and unexciting Bond girl of all time. Why do filmmakers delude themselves into thinking models can act, they shouldn't be even offered roles as movie extras. Confucius says, "a model to acting is like sumo wrestler to ballet dancing."

The only reason I was anxious to watch the 22^nd installment of Bond is because it was directed by Marc Forster. He is definitely in my Top 3 of "Exceptional German Directors, working today." Forster's record speaks for itself by having directed quality films such as MONSTER'S BALL, FINDING NEVERLAND and more recently THE KITE RUNNER. But unfortunately for Forster, he seems to have been merely a director for hire which is why he cannot be entirely blamed for this horrid film. He too would have been forced to adhere to the new Bond rules which consequently constricted his natural creativity. Ultimately it is the producer's of the franchise who need to go back to the drawing board. Although Daniel Craig is a good actor, he is still not the best pick for the Bond character. The producers need to bring back the corny formula but give it 21st Century flair. Bring back the diabolical megalomaniac super villains with their scary and colourful henchmen. Bring back the cool Bond-Villain names like Goldfinger and Scaramanga. Bring back the sexy Bond-Girl names like Pussy Galore and Honey Ryder. Bring back Miss Moneypenny, bring back Q and his spy gadgets. Bring back Bond the misogynist dinosaur that treats women like disposable underwear. Bring back the foreplay; in fact bring back the freaking SEX. But most importantly bring back the grandeur and tone down the realism, because if I want realism I've got Jason Bourne, Ethan Hunt and even Johnny English for that.

Rating: 2 COCONUTS
S.V Fernando