Quantum of Solace (2008) | Forgettable and Incomplete

After Casino Royale pulled me back into the Bond franchise and raised my expectations to new heights, Quantum of Solace was released and brought them back down to the ground. Quantum of Solace is the first James Bond film in the franchise that is meant to be a direct sequel to the previous entry, and it starts to set up the return of a particular evil, secret organization. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things about this movie that miss the mark and ultimately make it feel pointless. It’s not entirely the movie’s fault for being a disappointing follow-up to Casino Royale. One particular fact about the film’s production was that it happened during the writer’s strike of the 2000s, which can be the common excuse to point to why things feel incomplete.

Pros

Cool stunts, chases, and action scenes
Looks pretty at times
The build-up for the secret organization is interesting

Cons

Plot and pacing is somewhat aimless
Villains are dull and unimpressive
Characters come in and out of the movie seemingly at random

Plot & Thoughts

Picking up immediately from the final scene of Casino Royale—again without opening with the viewfinder sequence—James Bond (Daniel Craig) is being pursued through the streets of Italy in a high-speed car chase. Many vehicles are smashed or damaged in the process. When he finally pulls over, he opens the trunk of the car to reveal the man he shot at the end of the previous film and the title sequence begins. He’s captured the man called Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), seeking vengeance and information on the secret organization responsible for Vesper’s death. During an interrogation with M (Judy Dench) present, White reveals that his organization is far-reaching and has people deeply infiltrated in all the world’s organizations.

Suddenly, one of the other agents in the room attempts to kill Bond and M before running away to the streets and rooftops of Sienna. Bond tracks him down and fights him, but ends up killing him, forcing him to follow another potential lead. After killing yet another lead, the trail brings him to a man named Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who has a plan to own a large piece of land in Bolivia in exchange for helping back a coup in the region. Despite M telling him not to continue his investigation because of how personal everything is to him, Bond goes globetrotting after Greene as the primary target that could bring him closer to the secret organization.

I’ve seen this movie more times than I care to admit because it often appeared on TV when I was in a hotel or something, for whatever reason. Yet, despite having watched it again the night before I started writing this, I struggled to recall what the heck happened or what the plot even was about to the point that I watched it again, just now. I could blame the imbibing of alcohol I did while watching this one, but I also don’t have a problem recalling the plots of the Bond movies I enjoy that I haven’t seen in years. There are plenty of other Bond films I don’t even like that I was able to recall having absorbed plenty of alcohol while watching them. While there are some that I struggle to recall, and there are a few that are more boring, I would argue that Quantum of Solace is the most forgettable of the Bond franchise.

One of the main problems with Quantum of Solace and why it’s so forgettable is that it does a lot of setting up but very little is accomplished or learned by Bond before the film ends. The main point of this film is to set up the secret organization, and it does a decent job with the opening scene involving Mr. White and with the opera scene in which all of its members are meeting anonymously. It makes you interested in learning more about the organization and keeps you invested in Bond’s curiosity. But he doesn’t really learn anything of significance about them by the film’s end. What he does learn is Dominic Greene’s intentions with Bolivia, which doesn’t amount to much because Bond never really stops him from achieving his plan in any tangible way. He just tracks him down to a hotel in a remote location, where Bond has a fight with the scrawny little dude who is somehow able to go toe-to-toe with a muscular double-o agent.

Greene is just a lame villain. He comes across as a low-ranking goon in the organization, not someone of influence. Yet the film tries to make him seem menacing and intelligent with his dialogue and with how various allies of Bond are dispatched. He lacks the depth of character Le Chiffre had in the previous film and he lacks the charisma and presence to suggest he would be on par with any of the villains Bond has encountered in previous movies. The villain from Die Another Day, Gustav Graves, was more interesting, memorable, and intimidating than Greene. The idea that he would be any threat to Bond, even with a fire axe in hand while the building is burning down around them, is laughable.

Another issue with the film is that, in some ways, it’s dependent on the movie before and the movies that follow in order for it to be any good. The descriptions for this film on IMDB mention revenge or vengeance as a primary motivator for Bond because he’s still hurt over Vesper’s death in Casino Royale and he wants to find those responsible. So this movie relies on the previous film for its protagonist’s motivations, which I guess “wraps up” in the last scene that feels completely tacked on. The secret organization Bond is investigating is exactly what any fan would suspect, but its name isn’t revealed until two movies later. Skyfall ends up being a bit of a detour in the continuity of Bond’s story during this stretch of movies, which makes Quantum of Solace that much more difficult to remember.

The pacing and way scenes tie into each other feel unnatural as well. There’s a subplot involving the CIA that gets brought up a couple of times but really goes nowhere and serves no purpose other than giving Bond a hint as to where to go next. Characters like the main girl, Camille (Olga Kurylenko) just come in and out of the plot several times as though the film couldn’t decide if it needed her or not. Multiple other characters of significance are brought into the movie briefly only to be dispatched off-screen. How Bond comes in contact with Greene again and again feels contrived and convenient rather than due to his capabilities.

What does Quantum of Solace have going for it? The action scenes are pretty good. The various melees that Bond has throughout the movie, excluding his fight with Greene, are fun and exciting. The chase sequences at the beginning are a good time. The moments in which Bond gets to demonstrate his badass abilities are all pretty satisfying. Everything looks good. That’s about it.

TL;DR

Even after watching it again to jog my memory, the movie is falling out of my head as I write this review. Quantum of Solace had the potential to be good. It does some important world-building regarding the secret organization Bond is tracking down, and it does it better than future films that focus on it. It has some fun action scenes and it looks good. Unfortunately, the movie’s story feels incomplete and the pacing is all over the place because of the clear lack of cohesion between scenes.

Hair of the Dog Drinking Game Rule

The action is probably the best thing about Quantum of Solace as there is not much else I can praise. A lot of the action happens to take place in high places or at least on elevated ledges. As a result, Bond does a lot of leaping and falling in this movie to the point that I leave it up to your discretion whether to drink each time he jumps/falls or just once per scene in which it happens.