Radio Australia Today Editorial

Quantum of Solace: James Bond 007 is back. And Boy He’s Mad.

30 October 2008

This James Bond tragic goes through a bi-yearly withdrawal until the next 007 comes around.

Often I don’t know why. There have been some real dog Bond films over the years. Some have tried to be too funny. Some have been po-faced (Tim Dalton’s Licence to Kill). Some have been overblown (Brosnan’s Die Another Day). Some have suffered from having a great film wrapped around an ordinary actor (Lazenby’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service). Some have been ridiculous (Moore’s Moonraker. I mean, having soldiers fighting a laser battle in space dressed like storm troopers. Really.)

But on the other side there have been some superlative cinematic moments, like Lazenby’s tension-filled break-in to a solicitor’s office, Connery’s exquisite disposal of the femme fatale while on the dance floor in Thunderball, or Moore standing in front of a charging car and shooting the driver in For Your Eyes Only. Tim Dalton’s restrained tears at the death of a comrade was just superb.

In all, the balance sheet is to the good. And who doesn’t get at least a small thrill when they see the dots come across the screen at the start of the movie.

They didn’t have the dots last time around. The producers decided to go back to Bond’s beginnings in Casino Royale, and it worked a treat. Despite all the cruel carryings-on before the release by people who didn’t know, Daniel Craig gave a great perfornace as Bond. He was serious, but boy could he deliver a line. Like when the barista asks him if wants his martini shaken or stirred, he answers with a beautiful throwaway, “Do I look like a give a damn”. Some of his predecessors might have laboured the line, killing it stone dead. Not this guy.

Last night Quantom of Solace premiered in London, and some reviews have said that it feels like a sequel, in that it is not quite up to the standard set by Casino Royale. That’s inevitable. Expectations for CS were not high, so it surprised everyone, not just by being a great film, but by being different to anything the audience had seen before.

Revierwers have compared Quantumof Solace to the Bourne films (inevitably) not because it is taut and fast, but because people die. A lot. Bond is angry about the death of his chick, and people are going to pay. They do. In number.

This might be the fatal flaw in the Bond films. When a film in the franchise succeeds, the producers decide to do the Toyota theory, give then the same next time but even more (hence why the Corolla keeps getting larger). So this time there’s more action, more killing, more earnestness and a bigger boot.

I must admot that after seeing Casino Royale, I wondered where they could go from there. Casino Royale part 2 would never do. They needed to surprise people again. Do something that is equally as fresh as the last film.

I haven’t seen the film yet. I am just hoping that they haven’t forsaken character for a few good explosions.

That would be backward step. And a damned shame.

– Phil