Chasing Solace

BY NICKIE WANG/ MANILA STANDARD TODAY

Most men fantasize about driving a high-end car with a gorgeous chick buckled up in the passenger seat. Talk about a scene from a James Bond film. Every man wants to be like Bond and enjoy high-class lifestyle. After watching Quantum of Solace and seeing Agent 007 bruised and bloodied, there is less reason to imagine yourself like him.

Don’t wait for him to say, “The name is Bond, James Bond” because Daniel Craig who is out for his second foray as agent 007 will not drop the famed catchphrase in the 22nd installment of James Bond film. QOS is a great action film that capitalizes on hazardous action sequences that could possibly make your heart stop beating, and if you are an epileptic, better keep yourself away from the movie because QOS features tight closeup actions that can definitely put you on a close clonic-tonic convulsion.

These complex stunts, however, are old school actions. The opening car chase in a narrow street, where raining gunfire target agent Bond, has been an expected scene in every action flick. Boat chase, above ground chase and rooftop chase are also present in the film. Director Marc Forster included them perhaps to make the movie as James Bond-ish as possible. While they may look recycled, these scenes are made to look real enough to make you fidget on your seat. Yes, QOS is action-packed, literally. There are more action scenes than anything else, including dialog to complement its very simple plot: Bond wants to discover more about a very mysterious (yes that’s why he’s a spy) organization named Quantum. It is the name of an outwardly respectable front organization run by Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). While trailing Greene, he meets Camille (Olga Kurylenko)—a beautiful but deadly killer who wants revenge on one of Greene’s associates.

As the story progresses, Bond is not only battling to uncover the mystery behind the organization run by Greene, he is also in conflict with his own grief and urge to pursue a mission of vengeance. This makes QOS a sequel of Casino Royale; Bond is out to avenge his lover’s death.

Quantum of Soulless

Derived from an Ian Fleming short story in his 1960 collection of short stories called For Your Eyes Only, which was the title of an 007 film with Roger Moore playing the Bond character in 1981, Quantum of Solace delves through different meanings. If the film or the lead character finds some certain amount of comfort in sorrow, misfortune or distress, that does not reflect in the film.

As plenty violent action sequences are being featured in the movie, the title itself is a little off tangent to the whole story and to what it visually showcases. The audience might lose track of the number of characters agent Bond eliminated in the movie. The number of killings rises after every delivery of action sequence.

Talking about the main character Daniel Craig, he gives James Bond a new identity (which actually started when he did Casino Royale). He ditches the dinner jackets and grooms agent Bond with the brooding image. From a sleek undercover agent armed with sophisticated gadgets, James Bond turns to be a rough chap who just casually holds the gun. He still drives an Aston Martin DBS V12 but his sleekness deteriorates seeing him riding a flivver motorbike.

Not the usual Bond

Instead of using high-end gadgets and sophisticated arms, Bond utilizes mostly his physical power while in pursuit of the henchmen. His physical power can even be compared to a superhero except that he could not fly or run like the Flash. On a rooftop pursuit that ends in a bell tower fisticuff, Bond seems to have the power of Spiderman as he accurately lands safely when he jumps from one corner to another.

The movie underscores that James Bond is strong, dangerous and fearless, and Daniel Craig delivers.

The film, though, will not be complete without the Bond girls, this time provided by Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton. Although they are not the usual eye candy as in previous Bond movies, they are able to justify their characters most especially Kurylenko. You will not see her in a traditional Bond-making-love-in-a-strange-place scene (which is really absent in QOS), but there is a short kiss between her and Bond. Although Ukrainian in real life, she portrays a Latina in the movie, complete with the accent that can make Jennifer Lopez smiling all the way.