Quantum of a review

Last week T and I went to watch the new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. Despite all the criticism I've seen and heard, I actually liked the film.

WARNING: Spoilers below! Go watch Casino Royale and then see Quantum of Solace before reading on...

I can see how it deviated wildly from the usual 007 recipe, and how this could cause rage amongst die-hard fans. James came out battered and bruised after relentlessly chasing bad guys and fighting them in hand-to-hand combat. None of Q's gadgets ever gave him the edge, infact they hardly made an appearance. And I nearly cried after watching what Bond did to his Aston Martin. Yow!

Then there was the villian. He didn't have any megalomanical plans to take over the Universe. No interesting pets or scar tissue. Infact, apart from being a criminal, he was kind of, well... ordinary.

But I liked all this. Quantum of Solace is a James Bond for now. A more realistic super spy, who doesn't always do or know what protagonists are supposed to. I liked the way the story continued smoothly from Casino Royale -- Daniel Craig portrayed a "quantum" of "solace" well. The plot was different enough to be unexpected and despite the comparisons to the Bourne Trilogy... although, let's face it, ultimately all action movies are compared to the Bourne Trilogy... the action sequences in Quantum of Solace were fast paced, with Bond pulling out some typical moves but with some atypical camera angles. It was fun!

Unfortunately the A40 is littered with speed cameras so the journey home from the cinema was really boring. ;)