Quantum of Solace

“So did you see James Bond or Jason Bourne?” my brother asked as soon as I broke the news to him that I have watched the movie in theatre on the very first day.
“Well!!” I said “It’s more like a Bourne movie than a Bond movie.”
“I know. Read a lot about it. I believe you did not go through the reviews till now.”
“Nope. But I had to watch it. It’s a Bond movie after all.”
“I’ll watch it too. Don’t know when though.” And then we moved on to discussing other things.

Over the years an aura has been created around the most famous spy character created by Ian Fleming. He is associated with style, disarming charm; he is flanked with beautiful women; he is sharp-witted glamorous guy who has saved the world umpteenth times and has liking for adrenaline pumping action. Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan immortalized this image and then came Daniel Craig in the new ‘closer to reality’ avatar in Casino Royale. I loved his portrayal and thus was waiting for the new installment ‘Quantum of Solace’.

The movie begins from where the story finished in Casino Royale. Bond is in quest to track down the organization which was responsible for the death of Vesper, perhaps the only woman he loved ever, in the last movie. The movie begins with a well shot adrenaline pumping car chase sequence through mountainous terrain and it appears to have set tone for the entire movie. Not too long into the movie there is another chase sequence and then you will realize the relevance of the comment of it being more of a ‘Bourne movie’. In his global hunt (let’s face it Bond was Globetrotting in a way) to find that organization Bond comes across a corrupt businessman Dominic Greene who apparently is trying to control the oil in the South American country of Bolivia under the pretext of ecological protection. When his real motives are revealed you almost laugh at the idiocy of the plot (I will not reveal it. Just go and watch). In between you will find some plots regarding the CIA and a dictator trying to claim the country of ‘Bolivia’.

Coming to the Bond girls: Surprisingly the glamour quotient is slightly subdued in this film. Olga Kurylenko plays a revenge seeking tough girl Camille. To tell you the truth she justifies her presence as a Bond girl but in a slightly different way than previous version. Not to leave Bond completely out of his charm on women: an agent is brought into the picture to fill this gap. Gemma Arterton plays this more traditional Bond girl.

And if we are talking of the female characters of a Bond movie, how can we leave out ‘M’. Judi Dench as always played this role with aplomb. She undoubtedly emerges as a woman with steely nerves. One good thing about this movie is that it has tried to depict more of the relation between Bond and ‘M’.

Daniel Craig has performed his role perfectly. It is real and he appears to be an emotionally wrecked person in search of answers to some important questions. And then there are stunts: all of them very well shot to keep the viewer on the edge of the seat. Despite all these there is a sense of disappointment. You miss the suave, sharp-witted, glamorous, womanizer Bond. The director/ screenwriters in their attempt to depict a more real Bond take the fun out of the movie. As my friend commented while coming out of the movie “This Bond lacks humour and style.” I cannot agree more. This Bond is a rather angry, unsentimental killing machine. However, with all action packed sequence this movie will not let you bore but at the end of it you will feel that it could have been any other action film. The charisma of Bond is lacking.