Well, it was a letdown. But an expected one. After all, could the follow-up to Casino Royale ever be as adored as its predecessor? This movie will see its share of poor reviews, I expect. It already has over here, where it came out a week earlier than in the states.I'd love to join in with the complaining, but it's really hard to when the Bond franchise has been reinvented so delightfully. If we think about Quantum of Solace in terms of its place in history, we have no choice but to be grateful for it.
Two years ago, right before the release of Casino Royale, the Bond franchise was on its last legs. Camp and melodrama had slaughtered the Bond we all knew and loved. A piece of my childhood died when I watched Pierce Brosnan wind surf that giant, Arctic wave. Audiences were getting fed up.
But we saw Bond made over. And it was awesome. And what made it awesome was that Bond was -- really for the first time -- human. We got to figure out who Bond was all over again, just as he was figuring it out for himself. So of course this one's not as good. This kind of Bond isn't surprising anymore, especially after we've all watched Casino Royale 700 times on DVD.
But take this as a necessary chapter in the new franchise. Take it as a transition to ease us into a string of great movies. Simply, it's a story of revenge -- more a sequel than a series installment -- but without it we couldn't buy a James Bond who's up to his usual business (now that we're being asked to buy the things Bond does rather than suspend our disbelief). With revenge out of the way, Bond is free to get back to normality, and so are we, who have invested so much in a stoic character we can, for the first time, understand.
If nothing else, appreciate it for the little things that tell us Bond will eventually be up to his usual tricks, but will still remain raw and human. He will (and does) sleep around, but looking into his eyes at the end of Quantum of Solace we finally understand why. He will (and does) kill a lot of people, but may have very human doubts about it; in this installment, even, we see him torn over the concept of revenge, and changed because of his experience with it.
The last shot tells us that Bond has spent the last two movies becoming who we already know he is going to become. So if you don't like this one know that good and familiar things are coming. And appreciate Quantum for making it possible. Anyway, a movie not quite as cool as Casino Royale is still a pretty rad movie.
