Picking up minutes after the finale of Casino Royale, James Bond successfully escapes with his only remaining lead, Mr. White. However, the trail goes cold when, in the midst of questioning, a mole within MI6 dispatches with Mr. White. Soon after, in an attempt to uncover potential leads, intelligence officers at MI6 discover a link between Le Chiffre and a notable environmentalist, Dominic Greene. Bond is instructed to investigate, and determine whether there is a connection between the two.
There is much to be seen, and much to be loved here in this explosive, and hard-boiled followup to Casino Royale. If Casino was the action-packed, tongue-in-cheek James Bond we all know and love, then Quantum of Solace is the brooding, cold-blooded dark side of Bond we seldom see.
My expectations following Casino Royale were monumental to say the least, so you can imagine my surprise when I walked out of the theater only to realize that Quantum hadn’t just met them, it blew them away. In a word, I thought it was perfect, and while many believe Quantum of Solace to be an inferior sequel — if only slightly — I can’t help but disagree. I not only think Quantum holds its own in comparison to Casino, but I think that in some ways Quantum actually bests Casino Royale, both in style and in mood — much thanks to Marc Forster and crew for that one — which boosts the film into the upper echelon of “Bond” films. I know that isn’t the case for every Bond fan out there, but that’s just me. I believe that since no two Bond films are exactly alike, the same can be said of the James Bond fans. That being said, I can’t help but feel as though the many critics of the film missed the point.
From the opening moments of the film, I knew Quantum was different from everything that had come before it. The stillness, and the quiet. The graceful helicopter shot towards the cliff. Extreme closeups, accompanied by the sounds of steady breathing and distant engines roaring. All of these things are borderline uncharacteristic of Bond films, and yet I felt more in tune with the world of James Bond than ever before. And in an instant, almost as if we’re shifting with Bond’s focus, we are thrust into the middle of a high-speed chase, the intensity of which is undeniable. This is but one of the moments that makes Quantum unique, compelling, powerful and poetic — my favorite being the Opera sequence midway through.
Quantum’s one and only complication is that it relies on Casino Royale for the narrative groundwork. Now of course, that no longer presents a problem to the viewer if you’ve seen Casino, but if you haven’t seen Casino Royale, next to nothing will make sense here. If you’re hoping to pick this up and you haven’t watched Casino yet, you’d be well advised to give it a watch beforehand. Still, Quantum never feels like an afterthought, or a half-baked sequel. In fact, this film suggests that the exact opposite is true. It’s as if these films are a part of a far greater whole — singular threads in a massive web of conspiracy and terrorism. In that sense, it might just be the first Bond “sequel” ever made. I say that because while there were certain narrative arcs that recurred throughout the franchise — SPECTRE and their heinous plots — this film builds upon its predecessor while also bringing a real sense of closure to James Bond’s first assignment. Beyond that of course, it provides Bond time enough to unravel the plot that led Vesper to her watery grave, and ample room to exact his revenge.
In the end, I can’t help but feel as though these latest Bond films, through all of the advancements in stylization and characterization, bring us ever closer to understanding James Bond as opposed to merely watching him in action. While some viewers and fans might be opposed to this, in favor of mindless entertainment, I couldn’t be happier with the way things are unfolding in the world of James Bond, and I honestly believe that if Ian Fleming were alive today, he’d feel the same.
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