Over the past couple of weeks, I've managed to catch two of the most anticipated movies of the fall, the latest 007 film Quantum of Solace and the movie adaptation of the teen sensation book Twilight. I was a bit surprised by my reactions to each.
First up, Quantum of Solace. After Daniel Craig's first stint as James Bond in Casino Royale, I was pleased to see that the franchise had gotten a fresh reboot into something that was a bit less preposterous than what the Pierce Brosnan movies were escalating into and before they got to the absurd realm of the later Roger Moore films. Bond was still a debonaire spy who looked good in a tux and was still quite smooth with the ladies. Yet, this iteration of Bond was not indestructable. He could screw up. He could bleed. He could be tortured. And he could even love.
Quantum of Solace seems to pick up with that notion, by opening up with it's first scene as a continuation of Casino Royale. Literally moments after the last scene of Casino Royale, Bond is in quite an exhilarating car chase scene through the cliffside roads of Italy. This will later be followed by just about every chase sequence possible--on foot, in a boat, on a plane. Lots of action sequences, just like any good Bond film. So far, so good. The problem is that the action doesn't seem to flow very well, and the pay off at the end of most of these scenes isn't satisfying. Marc Forster, known more for his dramatic films, lends a bit of artistry to the action by using unusual angles and lots of montages. A foot chase underground is intercut with a horse race going on right above them. A shootout is mixed with scenes from Puccini's Tosca being performed in the auditorium nearby. I actually liked what he was doing with this, except he goes a completely different direction with the rest of the action sequences, filming them in the standard flow of action way we're all used to, which seems to give the whole movie a bit of a disjointed feel.
There are flashes of classic Bond goodness. Daniel Craig still fits the role well, despite his non-classic looks for Ian Fleming's ultimate British agent. We get just a peek of his usual playfulness during a hotel changing sequence with a female British agent sent to bring Bond back to England ("Fields. Just Fields."--although pay attention to the credits, her name is Strawberry Fields, and probably the only playful name we usually come to expect in Bond movies). There's even a nice touch involving her that harkens back to a famous scene from Goldfinger--a nice sort of Easter egg for all the devout Bond fans out there that's almost as cool as the scene in Casino Royale that explains how Bond got his Aston Martin DB5. We get a glimpse of the ongoing friendship between him and his CIA contact Felix Lighter. And his relationship with M is also developed well.
Even the way the ended the film was quite clever when you look at it as if Casino Royale was the beginning of the story. The final scenes of Quantum of Solace are very reminiscent of how Bond waited in the shadows on a snowy day that started the previous film. And they even save the classic walk of 007 across the screen before he shoots directly at the camera for the end of Quantum as if to say that this segment, in combination with Casino Royale, is finally over.
But in the end, it's just not enough. Why? Because the villain wasn't scary. At all. He didn't even have any scary henchmen. And his diabolical plan? It involves controlling Bolivia. Bolivia! No offense to Bolivians, but who cares about Bolivia? Granted Le Chiffre wasn't all that scary either, but at least you got a twinge of fear when he was literally busting Bond's balls in that torture scene.
Finally, the worst offense? No, not the theme song (although that was a disaster). The worst offense is that Bond doesn't bed the Bond girl at the end. That just seems like blasphemy. I mean, come on. They were stranded in a chasm in the earth in the middle of nowhere. He couldn't pass the time like he usually does when a beautiful woman is around? I know this is going to sound completely sexist, but what is the Bond girl for?
All in all, Quantum of Solace was a bit of a let down. It closes out the events of Casino Royale well, I guess, and lays the ground work for a sinister group of evil to fight in future films, but it just doesn't quite deliver as a film all its own. As the usual words at the end of the credits say, "James Bond will return," and I hope its with a bit more of the classic ingredients put back into the formula.
In contrast, I found Twilight a bit of a surprise. Usually I wouldn't have had much interest in this movie. Lemon, however, picked up this book on a whim awhile back and has been reading the entire series ravenously since then. As all fans of this series (which apparently is some phenomenon with teen girls that almost rivals the Harry Potter craze with younger kids), I was "forced" to watch with my wife. Based on the first book of a series by Stephenie Meyer, Twilight introduces us to Bella Swan, a teenage girl who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to the small town of Forks, Washington to live with her father while her mother and her boyfriend travel the country. Her adjustment as the new kid in school seems to go relatively well until she seems to spark the obvious disgust of Edward Cullen. Of course, the outward nausea he seems to exude towards her at first really is essentially love at first sight mixed in with a bit of hunger, as Edward is actually part of a family of local vampires.
This is a no doubt a teen chick flick, complete with longing gazes into each others eyes and some sappy dialogue. There was even one particular scene that looked like something out of a cheesy John Tesh music video and that I might put up there on the "roll your eyes" kind of scale as the obligatory chick flick sing-along-scene (which, thankfully, this movie did not have). The romance itself, central to the entire series, isn't even developed all that well. Yet for some reason, it all just seemed to work for me. Perhaps I'm intrigued by the whole vampire angle. Edward belongs to a vampire family that are strict "vegeterians" as they only feed on the blood of wild animals and not humans. Running around are a group of more traditional blood-suckers who will feast on their human prey at will and eventually come to spoil all the love and harmony. Maybe it's the hint of future things to come. The Cullen family had apparently made a pact long ago with the Native Americans in the area who descend from a wolf-respecting tribe--can you say vampire vs. werewolf throwdown in the future sequels?
But in the end, I was just kind of impressed by the whole abstinence message this movie seemed to convey. The typical teen drama seems to portray love at first sight and true love as something that can only be visualized by sexual intercourse, and never seems to emphasize the importance of waiting. What a better metaphor than a male teenager with hormonal urges who has to control himself before literally devouring his girlfriend, and a girlfriend that needs to figure out how to slowdown her own impulses to give up her entire life strictly on her feelings of first love? In a pop culture world where I think sex is thrown around way too easily for eye candy and quick stimulation, it was nice to see a story treat it as something special to wait for.
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