Bondathon: Quantum of Solace

Following on from the success of Casino Royale (2006), EON Productions rushed through the follow-up, Quantum of Solace.

Quantum of Solace picks up where Casino Royale left off, with Bond capturing Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) and taking him to be questioned by M. Mr. White was able to escape because his organisation has people everywhere. Bond must investigate this mysterious organisation which leads him to Dominic Greene (Matthieu Amalric), a utilities tycoon and environmentalist who has a scheme in South America.

One of the strengths of the Bond franchise is its ability to adapt. This was why Casino Royale was such a success. But the franchise has two weaknesses: tries to copy success and rush into making follow-ups. The Man With the Golden Gun was one of the most infamous examples because it rushed to capitalise on Live and Let Die’s success. Whilst Moonraker had to perform double duty because it repeated The Spy Who Loved Me’s story and wanted to cash in on the late ‘70s sci-fi boom.

Quantum of Solace wanted to follow on from Casino Royale and copied the Paul Greengrass Bourne films in the worst ways possible. The Bourne Identity and Supremacy had an impact on the Bond franchise because they showed gritty and realistic. Casino Royale managed to be a more grounded Bond adventure whilst also having traditional Bond elements. However, Quantum of Solace took the wrong lessons from those films.

The most obvious problem was Quantum of Solace was its action sequences. It copied the style of Paul Greengrass’ films. EON even brought in Dan Bradley, the second unit director of The Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum to handle the action. Quantum of Solace ended up having the most incomprehensible action sequences in the franchise’s history. Quantum of Solace used mostly shaky cam and quick cuts which made the action difficult to follow. I detest this style of filmmaking.

Film critics like Mark Kermode and Chris Bumbray from Joblo, have stated in their reviews that Quantum of Solace was directed by the second unit. There was credence to this argument because it wanted to be an action-packed film with a short runtime. It was the shortest film in the official series. Yet it wanted to tell a complicated story of political intrigue involving multiple governments and agencies, a secretive organisation with agents in governments and businesses around the world, and has a scheme involving taking over a nation’s water supply. Barely anything was allowed to breathe.

Quantum of Solace was made during the 2007/2008 Writers Strike. The screenplay was incomplete when filming started which led to Daniel Craig and director Marc Forster doing onset rewrites. Quantum of Solace had a solid basis for a Bond film, but it needed more refinement. There were attempts to make it a more emotional film due to Bond processing his grief, the power Quantum has, and to attempt a more politically motivated story. But the emotional journey was never there.

Because of this rushed production cycle, Paul Haggis and Roger Michell both rejected offers to direct and Forster ended up getting the job. Forster seemed like a good choice because his career was on a high. He had made several acclaimed dramas like Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland, and The Kite Runner. However, Quantum of Solace marked a turning point in his career because he hasn’t matched those highs since. The production troubles with World War Z provides evidence that Forster might not be suited to blockbuster filmmaking.

Whilst I have been ripping into Quantum of Solace there were things I liked. My favourite sequence was the opera in Austria. It was a great modernisation of a Bond series trope. It was a secret meeting taking place in public and it had a wonderful sense of class that one would expect from a Bond film. Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko) was a great character. Camille was a Bolivian agent who wanted revenge against the ex-dictator of her nation. She was mentally and physically scarred by the ordeal. Bond gives her advice on how to make a kill that would be so personal. It was the opposite of Bond’s advice to Melina in For Your Eyes Only. Camille had a fear of fire, and she was stunned during the climax, so Bond had to comfort and reassure her. It was a great little character moment for them both.

Gemma Arterton was memorable as Fields, even though Arterton has been critical of the role. Fields was a young agent sent to arrest Bond when he arrived in La Paz. Bond seduces Fields as a way to turn her on to his side and stay in the country. It shows Bond being a bit of a bastard because he used her. But M should take some blame because what did she expect would happen when sending a young woman to arrest a highly trained Double-0? The character was actually called Strawberry Fields, but her first name was never uttered in the film. It leads to the question of why bother except for a joke revealed in the end credits.

The villain’s plan was simple, take over control of a nation’s water supply and blackmail the government. It was a plan that walked that line of believable and far-fetched, like the villains’ plots in Live and Let Die and Tomorrow Never Dies. However, the villain was one of the weakest the franchise has ever produced. He was an unthreatening, weasel of a man who had no menace. It was a waste of Amalric’s talent, an excellent French actor who was known best for his role in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Dominic Greene’s best moment was at the end when Bond left him for dead in the desert, and that was due to Bond’s action.

Quantum of Solace does set up Skyfall, although this was unintentional. Camille asked Bond did Greene and Quantum kill his mother and Bond answered, ‘she likes to think so.’ The focus of Skyfall was the villain wanted revenge against M. He used to be M’s favourite and even called her ‘mummy’ and Bond had taken his place.

Quantum of Solace was wasted potential. There were good ideas and character moments in it which prevents it from being one of the worst Bond films like some people have called it. But EON Productions moved too quickly to follow up Casino Royale without coming up with a strong enough story.