Sunday, July 12, 2009

Special movie review

Well, I know this has nothing to do with sports or the Beebe Badgers, but most people that know me know that I am a huge James Bond fan. This weekend, I bought the last two movies I needed to complete my 007 collection: Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. I used to own Casino Royale, but I let my ex wife have it. I had never seen Q/S, so I bought and watched it this evening. Here is my review of it:

First, it is obvious that it is a sequel to CR, in many ways. One, Bond, is bent on getting revenge over losing Vesper Lynd at the end of CR. Also, some of the characters from CR come back in Q/S, including Mr. White and Felix Leiter. I liked the fact that both had expanded roles in Q/S. the character of M also has an expanded role in the movie, as we see a bit more personal side to her character.

I have to say that Q/S is essentially License to Kill(1989) for a large part, with the exception of a few details. Both movies have two Bond girls, both have Bond as a rogue agent, both take place in Central/South America, and both have strong willed dictators. However, in Q/S, the dictator takes the back seat to Dominic Greene, where in L2K, the dictator takes a back seat to no one. I can see why, in a way, that both movies mirror each other in a way. Both Daniel Craig and Timothy Dalton play a harder, darker Bond. Sean Connery or Pierce Brosnan would not have been able to pull off this type of character, or make this particular type of 007 movie work. Both Q/S and L2K also have agents who turn against their governments.

What I liked:

1. The end of the movie, where Bond finally finds peace with himself and the memories he has of Vesper Lynd. The necklace that Vesper wore in CR that Bond carried for the movie was dropped in the snow at the end.

2. The relationship between M and Bond seemed to get a little stronger toward the end of the movie, when M realizes that Bond was right about the Quantum organization. She defends Bond's actions during her meeting with the PM's aide.

3. MI6 agent Field's legs. Very nice. Fields, however, didn't play as big of a role as she probably should've had.

What I disliked:

1. The theme song, it was terrible!!!! It was probably one of the worst Bond theme songs of the whole series. This song will not do Alicia Keys any good, in my opinion.

2. The end graphics. They were too small.

3. The fact that the gun barrel scene was at the end. Although I'm glad they brought it back for Q/S, it should've been at the beginning, instead of the end. Hopefully, for the next Bond, it will be at the beginning.

My review? On a scale of 1(worst) to 5(best), I'd rate it a 2.5. I thought it interesting that it was not the only movie featuring an actor playing Bond for the second time(Roger Moore-The Man with the Golden Gun, Timothy Dalton-License to Kill), that the second movie was not as well thought of as the first. Hopefully the next Bond flick, due to be released in 2011, will be much better. I'd love your comments on Q/S.

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