I saw Quantum of Solace

[pokerfan]

Not as good as Casino Royale but then again, CR is my second favorite of the franchise. QoS provides lots of action and everyone has commented on the lack of gadgetry and the signature Bond wit. I can deal with all of that but what I thought was missing most was the lack of any real jeopardy such as the torture scene from CR. To be fair, tt's not like 007 is ever truly in jeopardy in any of the films and we have little doubt that he will ever fail to escape the most dire of circumstances but at least those films provided them. But still, an enjoyable 106 minutes.

[Auggie]

1. There's not a Bond film I don't enjoy

[pokerfan]

4. True

I will even sit through Moonraker if it's on.

[Deja Q]

5. .

:scared:

[pokerfan]

10. .

well, provided there's nothing else on, of course. :)

[AlCzervik]

2. i enjoyed it, i also avoided reviews until after i saw it.

no it wasn't as good as CR but i didn't expect it would be, still a good popcorn movie.

[Deja Q]

3. Given the gadgets during the Brosnan era, a lack of gadgets is somewhat refreshing...

As is the lack of comedy; Bond's wit is supposed to be sardonic and icy so I've no complaints...

The plot does meander and seems convoluted; while there are a lot of nice set pieces, the whole thing feels uninspired; even the villain is treated like another side character.

Nor was there any central focus; the better Bond movies had a focus -- either revenge (LTK), finding a decorder (FYEO, FRWL, TSWLM), and so on. This is just chasing a guy around... yes, a mysterious terrorist organization that has a lot of business people involved. Whee.

Lots of action, lots of solid suspenseful moments and even those scenes when you know something is going to go "boo" and you get scared anyway so it's well directed... but the writing is the downer. Set pieces are always great, but when the core plot doesn't know what to go do with itself... :(

On the definitive plus side, Dave Arnold did the score, Judi Dench and Daniel Craig, as usual, put in excellent performances and even the character of Bond is precisely how he should be. His humor was there, but it's a sarcastic, sardonic, icy and cruel wit he lobs at his enemies.

Incidentally, despite any gripes I have, it's far better than anything made between 1994 and 2003... :D

[pokerfan]

6. The score was fine but the title song was forgettable

Left me not stirred, not shaken.

[Deja Q]

7. The lyrics were good, sung decently, but the backing music was pretty bad.

The visuals were decent, but I missed the gunbarrel logo sequence at the start too...

[pitohui]

8. "not as good as casino royale"

there's a scarey thought since i thought "casino royale" was mind numbingly awful and boring, unfortunately, i'm a gambler and the gambling scenes were just so awful and sucky that it ruined the film for me -- considering how many people play cards, why don't they get someone who actually does to vet these kinds of films?

if this film is even more boring...they can keep it!

[pokerfan]

9. yeah, i rolled my eyes at the hold-em scenes

"His eyes bleed when he's bluffing." Well that's certainly helpful but why would our hero push all-in if he believes his opponent is on a bluff? :shrug:

And in the final hand, the one where Bond makes his SF on the river, the dealer literally replaces the board cards with each player's hole cards to show each hand. :wtf: What a great way to turn everything into a confused mess.

[bridgit]

11. Cool, the clips look 'big' & the action stuff seems off the freaking hook!

Vroom-vroom!! :thumbsup: