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.

Adele's Skyfall theme is good, but Joe Cornish's Quantum of Solace is still the best.

So terrific is this satirical Bond theme song that I find myself humming it when I think of Daniel Craig's last 007 picture, only to remember that it wasn't the actual theme to Quantum Of Solace.  If by some weird miracle you've never heard this ditty over the last four years, take a listen.  Joke or not, it's the catchiest 007 theme song since, I dunno, Duran Duran's "Dance into the Fire" from A View to a Kill.    Anyway, about 90 seconds of Adele's theme song for the upcoming Skyfall leaked online yesterday and I have to say it's pretty darn good.  I'm not a hardcore Adele fan ("Someone Like You" is even more frighteningly stalker-ish than Sting's "Every Breath You Take"), but she dials back the vocal melodramatics and the tune is better for it.  I'm of the opinion that most 007 themes are pretty silly, so that I actually like this one and would listen to it as a stand-alone single is pretty high praise.  The official release of the whole song comes on October 5th on AdeleTv.  If you want a sneak peak, go here.

Scott Mendelson