Quantum of Solace Review

So I saw the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace last weekend when it opened with Brandy. I know that my reader(s) fall into two categories: those with short attention spans, and those with longer ones. So let me split my review into two - a short one and a long one!


First, the short answer: It was a good movie - but not as good as Casino Royale. Go see it anyway.



So, now for the long one...



First, let me disclaim that I like Bond movies. A lot. Even when they aren't particularly good, there's something about them that I really like. And Quantum is no exception. And perhaps that is the problem - it felt like all the other Bond movies. Casino Royale was different from other Bond movies. Way different. It was darker, grittier. It relied less on cool gadgets and more on a cool Bond. And I think this difference made the movie stand out so much. In contrast, Quantum felt like every other Bond movie (to a large extent). I could see Pierce Brosnan as Bond in Quantum, where I couldn't in Casino Royale. So if you go in expecting Casino you're probably going to leave with Goldeneye. And that's not entirely a bad thing.



So specifically (and spoiler-free... mostly) what did I like? Well, first enough cannot be said about the awesomeness of Daniel Craig and Judi Dench. I've thought that Dench was the best M since she showed up, and Craig is quickly rising on my favorite Bond list. Most people feel Sean Connery is the ultimate Bond - and I am not going to argue that - but Craig may be usurping the second slot previously held by Pierce Brosnan (although I'll be watching Goldeneye again this weekend, so we'll see how that holds up). The other major plus I give the movie is the attempt to give Bond an actual recurring villain in the evil group Quantum. I've been hoping for this for years, ever since Bond brought down SPECTRE long ago. I think it gives James a much better motive, and builds some continuity and development to the series.



Now the negatives. My biggest problem can really be summed up by pointing to the change in Director between Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. I think this change ended up altering the atmosphere of the movie, which I think lessened the drama. Additionally, the director Mike Forster tried to get too cute with the cinematography. Every Bond has a few chase scenes, but I felt that Quantum had one chase scene, followed by a short conversation, followed by another chase scene. Instead of adding tension, it bored me. These types of directing choices I think hurt the movie.



One other thing this impresses upon me is the writing ability of Ian Fleming, the creator of Bond. The early Bond movies were based upon his novels, but the later ones - including all of the Brosnan movies - were not. Casino Royale was. Quantum of Solace was not. Noticing a pattern? I think I will start searching out these books to try and figure out why Fleming's novels have adapted so well to the big screen.

Pirates 3 Sucked

Sorry Candace.

I wanted to like it; really. And it was better than the second one; unfortuantely it was better in the same way that Episode II was better than Episode I: The first was so bad that the following one had to be better; and it wasn't that much better. It seems that At World's End's major problem was that there were too many subplots that just kept... going... on... forever. So much so that when something finally happened you were too bored with the movie to pay attention!

The thought that I had during the movie was that it would be better served as a series, like Lost. Then it could take all the time it wanted in fleshing out its subplots with no 2-hour or so time limit. Not that something like that is going to to happen.

Meanwhile, Will Turner kicked major ass! He went from "whiny, self-righteous pansy" in the first one to "total freakin' badass" in the final one. He was practically the only thing worth watching in the film (like Ewen McGregor in Episode II, ironically). The scene between him and Davy Jones was my favorite by far.

Personally, I hope that there aren't more of the films, or at lesat if there are that they keep a better, faster pace. I don't know what genre this film was, but "action" definitely wasn't it.

More Mini-Reviews

Let's get this out of the way first: I was tired, sore and half-asleep, but yes, I watched an episode of the Bachelor. I was quite irritated at it, to be honest. Watching the season finale I had two choices of women to support: On the one hand, there was the social worker from San Francisco (read: hippie); on the other hand was a medical researcher from Palo Alto. My only thought was: "I have to choose between supporting a hippie from SF or a freakin' Stanfurd girl? WTF?" It was worse than the NBA playoffs (I'm rooting for Detroit?? WTF?)! I tried to mock the show at every opportunity, but I still feel dirty for having watched it.

I also saw Hitch. Now I wanted to see this movie in theaters because I really like Kevin James, and I kinda-sorta like Will Smith. Having now seen it, I'm glad I didn't see it in theaters. Don't get me wrong, it was a decent movie, and I generally liked it, but I'm not sure I liked it enough to have spent nine bucks on it. It was cute though. In a girly-chick-flick type way.

Less girly was Hard Candy, a pshychological thriller featuring the chick who played Kitty Pryde in X-Men 3. I'll never look at her the same; that is a seriously messed up movie. I didn't like it for a variety of reasons, none of them revolving around the quality of the movie. It's worth a look if you are interested in the genre. I'll have more to say on it later, the issues it brings up warrant a full post (though I wonder if I'll actually get around to posting about it, given my track record on these things).

I also saw Shrek the Third; it was... meh. I enjoyed it, but nowhere near as much as the first two. I don't think I would've seen it had Antonio Banderas not been in the movie; he's too much of a badass to not make a movie better. The D&D reference was at once funny and mildly insulting. Thanks for reinforcing a stereotype guys!

I haven't yet seen Pirates, which of course means I haven't played the Wii game of it, lest I get spoilers. But I'm told it's good!

I'm also proud to say that I've made Brandy watch Team America: World Police. Whereas in the beginning of the movie she wasn't thrilled with the theme song, by the end, when I said "America," she vigorously responded. My work then is done.

Well that's it for now; a Happy Birthday to me, I'll be back with all of you before the week is out hopefully.

Reviews

Work once more has kept me away from my adoring reader(s?), but now I am back with some updates! Specifically, some reviews:

Nintendo Wii: Well, after spending 20 minutes playing a friend's, the new girlfriend Brandy went out and bought her very own Wii, along with a variety of games. Needless to say, I've spent some time playing it. And, well, my only reaction is: Meh. Where other consoles (*cough*PS3*cough) have spent an enormous amount of time and effort making graphics improvements, Nintendo seems to have focused on changing the way the games are played. And in that, they have been hugely sucsessful. The Wii remote - which senses your movements and follows it on the screen - is amazingly accurate and sensitive (sometimes too sensitive). And certainly, it's pretty neat to bowl or golf or whatever using the actual motions. But, once the initial coolness fades, you're left wondering "Is this it?" Currently, there are precious few games which could be graciously described as "good" on the system. Wii Sports is basically a tech demo that Nintendo decided to package with the game and has graphics that the N64 could beat; the only Mario game is freakin' Paper Super Mario? Come on. Even the new Zelda game (see below for more on that) has been released on the GameCube, so why bother buying a system for it? I can see the Wii putting out some really neat shooters, the Remote and Nunchuk thing (that's its name, seriously) seem well-suited for that, but where are they now? A new Metroid game in that fashion would've done wonders for the system! Instead, we're left with WiiPlay and Smooth Moves. So, in summary: A fun party system, with a neat, innovative style of gaming, that will make some really neat shooters eventually, but thus far I'll keep my PS2. Maybe the Pirates of the Carribbean game that's coming out this summer wil change my mind.

Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess: Ah, the new Zelda game for the Wii. Let's start with sometihing positive: It's pretty. Not quite Final Fantasy XII pretty, but pretty in any case. Also, there's still no voice acting, which may or may not be a bad thing. And, unlike the last Zelda game I played, Ocarina of Time, you don't start out as a little kid, and the damnable fairy doesn't keep trying to tell you things. Other than that, it's a standard Zelda game of solving puzzles and collecting items to stop the bad guy. Well, I have to assume most of that last sentence, because I've spent the last half-hour playing trying to do one stupid task: Catch a damn fish! Apparently, the most frustrating part of the game comes right at the beginning, and it's a doozy. Now, I know that - in real life - people spend hours sipping beers and fishing. But, when I play a game, I dont' need that much reality involved. Catching a damn fish within the first hour of play shouldn't be this damn hard! But it seems that Link's a Druid in this game (sorry, D&D reference) since he can turn into a Wolf later on. If/When I get past the fishing, I'll update you all.

Runaways: A friend let me borrow the colleciton of comics titled Runaways. It's good. Really good. The story is: Six teenagers find out that their parents are part of a secret cabal of super-villains and so they run away from home, each gaining or learning about special powers of their own along the way. It also includes a genetically engineered dinosaur from the 87th century. Always helpful with a book. It's really well written and neatly drawn; I would encourage everyone to read it, as it's not your typical spandex-wearing superhero smackdowns.

Spider-Man 3: A great movie. I mean, a really great movie. A lot of stuff goes happens, as contrasted to, say, Superman Returns, where nothing happens. There are a few scenes that don't make sense, but overall, a very well done finale to the trilogy. And Kirsten Dunst is a bitch. Her MJ is going on my Emma Frost list (*sigh* more of my friends need to read comics). Anyway, go see it.

Movie Madness

So here are some movie notes for all you who care:

First, Transformers: Hugo Weaving appears to have been selected to voice Megatron. Weaving is best known for his roles in The Matrix movies (as Agent Smith) and in V for Vendetta. I personally was hoping for David Kaye, whose voiced Megatron on the Transformers cartoon shows since the mid-90s show Beast Wars, but hey, I won't be complaining about this.

Then Iron Man: Many don't know that Marvel's armored avenger is set to be in his own live action movie coming out in 2008. Strangely enough, it looks good. Among its cast are Robert Downey Jr., Gweneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges. Now, Marvel has had some poor choices in casting in the past (see: Daredevil), but these all seem like good moves! I'm actually pretty excited about this movie. It's the most promising sounding franchise since Spider-Man, IMHO. Now I can't wait for an Avengers movie.

X3

was just ridicoulously wonderful. I mean damn. Great movie.

Go see it. And then call me, and we can go see it together.

And then I'll see it again. And again. And again.

Freaking best movie EVER.

And for My Brother

Straight from the Corner, here's a post for those who enjoy recreating your favorite movie scenes using Lego's! Today's scenes are from "Brokeback Mountain." By the by, I have not seen this movie, and most likely never will. It mostly stems from South Park, and Cartman's one line: "Independant films? Aren't they those black and white films about gay cowboys eating pudding?" I don't think I could stop laughing during the movie; and God help me if they ate pudding. Meanwhile, here's my favorite Lego's picture.

I didn't realize that they made Sheep Legos.