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THE NEW JAMES BOND MOVIE For thirty minutes the camera work and stilted line delivery were locked in fierce competition over which would make "Quantum of Solace" the less watchable film. The camera work won, just barely. I should say upfront that I liked this movie. It was about as good as I expected. Yeah for cinema! Here's a picture of a mouse with HIV: 
The early Bond films had plots so threadbare and interchangeable it was hard to take them seriously. The ideas were ludicrous. Somehow, you went along with them anyway; it was part of the fun. With these new films I have no idea what's going on. We still have Bond girls and Bond villains and guns, which is nice. We also have plots that are way too complex to be so poorly elaborated. A few hundred names, a dozen locales, a web of goals and intrigue. Viewer, make sense of it. It's as if the movie were daring me to give up thinking halfway through. I was happy to oblige. I've yet to understand a single James Bond film since "GoldenEye". On movie titles. Think back to the early 007. You remember those Sean Connery and Roger Moore classics? Where important plot points could be discerned from the movie titles alone, e.g.:
Now compare:
Hollywood likes its American CIA operatives two ways. The first way is an idealist who does the right things at the right time for the right reasons: for the love of his country; for valor; for justice, freedom, truth, democracy. The second is an asshole pragmatist who always gets the oil and blows up half of Europe in the process. In "Quantum of Solace," Hollywood has it both ways. "Felix" is the black CIA dude with a conscience; if I remember correctly, he says three words the entire movie. "Beam" is his white CIA boss of the second kind. Beam's moustache is terrific, however, and he's crass and sarcastic on screen. Which I appreciated. If America must be self-serving, as she really has been throughout history, then at least she should be made to be funny. More on white people. Although as a rule I don't like white women, I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong. Olga Kurylenko is the chink in my racist armour. Ukrainian models are fantastic. "Quantum of Solace" is mercifully shorter than its predecessor. How long was "Casino Royale"? Like seven hours? Daniel Craig is buff and impressive. He is Bond 2.1K. He's reinvented the Bond film franchise, say his supporters. Say others, Craig's reinvention of Bond is no Bond at all. The latest films don't belong in the canon. They aren't smart or debonair enough, is what many critics are saying. They lack the characters, the catchphrases, the camp of the original films. His apologists reply that Craig has got closer to Ian Fleming's novelization than any Bond yet, including Sean Connery. Now I've not read the books, but as someone who's seen every James Bond movie (my parents own them all), let me be the first to say I don't care. After we showed our ticket stubs and took our seats, my date asked me for a Diet Coke. So I left the theater and stood in line to buy one for her. I opted for the "Reel Deal" combo, which includes drink and large popcorn for a paltry eleven dollars and sixty-five cents. The popcorn topping (we used to call it "butter") is obtained from a solitary self-service pump at a crowded counter at the edge of the concession stand. I waited in line again; younger, virile men darted forward, procuring napkins, straws, relish and ketchup for their dates. Eventually I reached the front of the line. I started pumping this popcorn topping, then I realized: This is the largest bag of popcorn I've ever held in my life. (Enter a small dilemma.) The uppermost layer of popcorn was fully saturated with topping by the first squirt. But to reach those kernels at the bottom of the bag, who knew how many squirts it might take? A seventeen-year-old ran his elbow across my face as he reached for a pack of mustard. "This sure is a funny world we live in," I thought as I stood there, pumping. [Addendum: It's the Reel Deal combo that I paid twelve bucks for. Not "real," as in authentic or true or genuine. The combo was "reel," as in "movie reel," as in "fisherman's reel," as in "we danced a reel," as in "the commercial pablum left me reeling with hatred for capitalism." Because exorbitantly priced confections are made more palatable through banality and wordplay.] -murrayjames 11/15/08 |