Quantum of Solace

BA-DAT!  BA-DAT!  BA-DAT-BA-DA-DA! 

I love Bond. James Bond. The new one that is. Before I saw Casino Royale I made sure I read the book. It was my first experience with Fleming's 007 in literary form.  His Bond was a lady's man, like we all remember, but he was more than that. He was an animal, a predator. He lived on instinct, cunning, and guts. He was not afraid to get his hands very dirty if it meant getting the job done.

The more I read, the more I realized this Bond in book form wasn't the one we saw on screen. That Bond, the Connery/Moore Bond that we all remember fondly, was too suave, too pretty. That Bond killed, but kept the blood off his hands. The act didn't wrinkle his shirt. That isn't how Fleming pictured his secret agent.

Then, I saw the new Casino Royale. It was visceral, violent, intense, and in your face. It started with Bond practically beating a man to death in a bathroom in black and white. It was a modern-day version of what I had read on the page and I loved it.

I tell you all this as a way to inform you that I might be a little biased. I love new Bond Daniel Craig. He understands that Bond is a feral dog out there to do the dirty work of the Queen, the stuff no one else will do. He personifies what Bond should be.

So, now that I've made clear how I feel about the current state of Bond, you probably want to know how I feel about the new movie.  

I loved it.

The opening car chase is one of the most intense on film.  It's not the longest.  It's not the most clear, but damn! As the viewer you truly feel like you are in the car with Bond and that your life is in jeopardy!

And it just gets better from there.  Picture Kill Bill in the Bond world.  Bond, who's already an pretty scary dude, is an angry man, which is not a pretty sight. He "pushes aside" (and by that I mostly mean kills) everyone and everything that stands between him and the people responsible for Versper Lind's (Bond girl prime from Casino Royale) death.

Needless to say, it's more complicated than that. The movie plays off the current eco-paranoia as the villains plot to profit off of the failing environment. Bond stumbles across this plot along with new Bond girl Olga Kyrasomethingorother (who, by the way, looks just like my assistant manager from Dunkin Donuts). She's also on a mission to destroy the man responsible for hurting her, so a team-up with Bond was only natural. Together they try to save the day while acquiring a quantum of solace.

The acting was on par with Casino Royale: a notch above typical Bond but, ya know, not gonna win any Oscars. Craig is Bond. Period. Dame Judi is amazing, par usual. Olga Kyrasomethingorother was good, for a Bond-girl. Mr. Greene was sufficiently creepy, though he didn't seem as evil as I would have liked.

The story was pretty straight-forward: angry Bond kills everyone unless it's a hot chick, then they have sex. There wasn't much complexity in regard to character development but, personally, I didn't care. We know Bond, we understand he's pissed.  When he calms down again, we can chat about his past and how he feels.

I would like to see more from this secret organization that no one knows about in future films. I bet it happens because there is at least one major player still out there. I can't wait.

I recommend this to any Bond, action, revenge, or good movie fan

P.S.--Entertainment Weekly and Sam are not getting along. You see, they told me that the Star Trek trailer would be playing with Bond and, well, I didn't see it. Pretty sure it wasn't there. I'm gonna fight someone.