Brandon Peters dissects the 007 series part 22: Quantum of Solace.

With Skyfall dropping in theaters in just a couple weeks, along with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series, a close friend and fellow film nerd, Brandon Peters, has generously offered to do a comprehensive review of the entire 007 film franchise. Today is the twenty-second entry, with a full review of the inexplicably maligned Quantum of Solace. I hope you've enjoyed what is a pretty massive feature leading up the November 9th release of Skyfall, because, to quote Adele, this is (nearly) the end. Without further ado...

Quantum Of Solace

2008

Director:  Marc Forster

Starring:  Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Gemma Arterton, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright

Rated PG-13

Take a deep breath, you only got one shot, make it count.

                        ~James Bond

STATS

Kills:  17

Bond Girls:  Camille Montes, Strawberry Fields

Car:  Aston Martin DBS V12

Locales:  Siena, Haiti, Austria, Bolivia, Russia

Odd Villain Trait:  Elvis, tall and has a wig that makes him look rather silly

Song:  “Another Way to Die” performed by Jack White & Alicia Keyes

Quantum of Solace (QoS) is considered the first ever direct sequel to a Bond film, starting up moments after the closing events of Casino Royale.  One could argue this untrue as Diamonds Are Forever picks up right where On Her Majesty’s Secret Service left off.  Going further, Dr. No through to Diamonds (minus Goldfinger) all carry along Bond’s battle against SPECTRE.  While calling it a direct sequel is the easiest way to spin it, the two films are more closely tied than any previous two films.

Why they hate us: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters gets a lousy trailer that feels no better than a SyFy Channel premiere.

Well this looks amusingly terrible.  This is frankly why so many people claim that movies stink nowadays.  It's the kind of 'take an old tale and turn it into an action picture' shtick that was tired the minute Van Helsing debut nearly nine summers ago.  Starring a flavor of the month actor (Jeremy Renner) and a random 'she's a movie star because we tell you she is' would-be starlet (Gemma Arterton), this can't even muster a decent trailer.  It looks dull, it looks cheap, and it looks like the kind of thing that would perhaps justify itself as a guilty pleasure as a Saturday night SyFy movie.  But this would-be franchise-starter is the kind of film that would-be audiences and critics are talking about when they decry the death of Hollywood.  Just as obnoxious, the film pertains to be about a brother-and-sister witch killers yet establishes what appears to be a stock 'rescue the damsel in distress' third act which sidelines Arterton for large chunks of the picture (notice how little she appears in the last third of the trailer).  I'm happy to see Famke Janssen in a high-profile project, but she seems to be the only source of entertainment, even with a somewhat surprising R-rating.  Although I will gladly eat crow if the film finds some way to incorporate IKEA into the narrative, perhaps making Mr. Ikea the would-be Q who builds all of their snap-together weapons ("There's an extra screw that doesn't go anywhere!  We're doomed sister!").  Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters debuts on January 11th. 2013.  As always, we'll see...

Scott Mendelson