22nd Bond Feature Has Confusing Name, But Great Action

James Bond has been, and always will be, quintessential to action films. Even if you don't like the Bond movies, you've at least heard of him. His movies are legendary and a permanent mark in the history of film. The film's have been going strong since 1963. Here it is, now 2008, and we've hit our 22nd Bond film. By now, Bond fans know that every Bond film should have a great opening song, a good story, awesome cars, lots of action, sexy women, and cool gadgets. Well, the cool gadgets were abandoned in 2006 with the entry of Casino Royale, but it worked. Us Bond fans liked this different Bond. Daniel Craig also brought to the role a grittier, tougher Bond. One that none of Craig's predecessor's could've done (although they were still great when covering the role). Craig enters his second Bond film, Quantum of Solace, which is the first direct sequel in a Bond film.

The story takes place just minutes after Casino Royale, with a thrilling chase through narrow streets in Italy, where Bond's Aston Martin DBS takes a serious licking, but keeps on ticking. Shortly thereafter, Bond (Craig) and M (Judi Dench) are interrogating Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) about a secret organization that was involved with the death of Vesper. Bond is hellbent on finding out who set her up and will stop at nothing to do it. His exploits lead him to an environmentalist named Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), leader of an organization called QUANTUM. Along the way, he gets help from Dominic's ex-girlfriend Camille (Olga Kurylenko), fellow Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton), and CIA buddy Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright). They all set out to wage war against Dominic, whom they find out is planning to take control of a third world country's water supply.

Well, for starters, the title is a bit confusing. Not for me so much because when I first found out about the title, I scrambled to look through my Webster's dictionary to figure out what it meant. I won't spoil the surprise for ya. The second thing wrong with this is the opening song. It's performed by Alicia Keys and Jack White (frontman for The White Stripes). This is the first time the Bond theme has been a duet and for some reason, it doesn't work. It seems a strange combination, having Alicia and Jack sing together. Personally, I think the song would've sounded much better had it just been Jack White, but that's just me. Apart from that, the rest of the film is fine.

This movie also serves a good example of the movie term "McGuffin." McGuffin means that there's a plot device in the movie that advances the story, but the details about it are of little or no importance. Thus is Dominic Greene's quest for controlling a country's water supply. We hear about it, Dominic talks about it a little, and then that's it. The primary plot is Bond going after Vesper's saboteurs. This film has more action than Casino Royale did, which is fine. I've read too many people comparing this film to Casino, mainly because it is a sequel. This is a bit different. We get aerial dogfights, car chases on top of car chases, rooftop chases, nasty fights, etc. It's everything you could want in a Bond film. Bond's actions are a little crazy, bordering pyschosis, but he is after someone that got the woman he loved killed. That's enough to drive any man like Bond over the edge. Craig gets wonderful support, especially Dench, Kurylenko, Arterton, and Wright. Kurylenko, while not the best of the Bond girls, does her part well. This certainly isn't among the best Bond films and isn't quite as good as Casino Royale storywise, but it keeps you highly entertained and knee-deep into action. That's Bond.

3 1/2 stars