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‘Quantum of Solace' full of vengeance

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I admit that Sean Connery is James Bond for me. I never cared much for Roger Moore, really disliked Timothy Dalton as 007, and found Pierce Brosnan enjoyable enough, but Connery by far offered the smoothest, most suave Bond ever. That said, Daniel Craig has grown on me and, while his portrayal of 007 is darker and quite a bit more brooding than his predecessors, I enjoy this new Bond greatly. In “Quantum of Solace,” the most recent rendering of Ian Fleming's famed spy, Bond is back in action and looking as sexy as ever. Even if the story is a bit thin, I love seeing this new rugged Bond and there are some very intense action scenes.

Taking off where the last film left off, “Quantum of Solace” has our hero hell-bent on vengeance. M (Judi Dench), the head of MI6, revokes Bond's “license to kill” after he takes hostage Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) and kills a man who can get to the bottom of a new secret agency. James, almost literally ablaze with anger, wants answers about the death of the only woman he had ever loved. Soon everyone is looking for him. With MI6 and the CIA both on his tail, Bond inadvertently hooks up with the only person as irate as he is - Camille (Olga Kurylenko), who's sleeping with slimy business mogul (the newest and perhaps strangest and lamely drawn Bond baddie) Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) to seek her own vengeance against a brutal South American general (Joaquín Cosio) who has offered this beauty ample reason to be as vengeful and, frankly, as pissed off as Bond.

Still full of hate and bitterness, Bond lives up to his new vengeance-filled reputation by performing various acts of mercilessness, checking his watch while a gasping victim dies, throwing a dead friend into a Dumpster and tossing a man from a building with no regard. This is positively not the Bond of the past - or so it seems. I even read that former Bond-man Moore voiced his disdain for the new more violent and sinister storylines. Certainly, as perhaps yet another testament to today's audience's tolerance for graphic violence, these new Bond films are less about spying and chivalry and more about gratuitous brutality.

While the action sequences - including car, boat and airplane chases - impress, director Marc Forster opts for some wild and at times far too shaky film work. I was reminded of an out-of-control roller-coaster ride during many scenes - like one that flashes quickly and sporadically between a violent opera scene and a chase and shoot-out in the opera house. There is just far too much leaping back and forth between scenes and one rooftop chase made me a bit motion sick. I exaggerate, of course, but Forster does go a bit over the top, which I suppose is a good thing, since the story is weak at best.

Craig, sexy as ever, plays Bond with the same serious, brooding edge as he did in “Casino Royale.” While he is not Sean Connery, I do love watching him on screen - enjoying his talent as an actor while hoping he'll take his shirt off. Amalric (who impressed me immensely in “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) does a fine enough job as Dominic Greene - an environmentalist who steals water, exploits people and holds important officials in the palm of his hand - but his character truly isn't very menacing, nor is his storyline that interesting. In fact, had it not been for pretty Kurylenko, the gorgeously rugged Craig and some impressive stunt sequences and explosions, “Quantum of Solace” would be a total wash - it simply has no plot to drive it. As ever, I do love Dame Judi Dench as M.

The chase sequences, while impressive, are wholly unrealistic and at times border ever so slightly on being comic. The sheer magnitude of destruction (from cars to entire buildings) is impressive and one lengthy struggle, spinning wildly through a maze of crumbling scaffolding, is incredible to watch, but director Forster (who is not exactly known for this genre of film) goes all out for theatrical flashiness rather than realism.

Still when all is said and done, I found the PG-13-rated “Quantum of Solace” enjoyable enough that I'm looking forward to the next Bond installment, but I hope writers Paul Haggis and Neal Purvis can pen a more intriguing tale. Sure, I enjoy the wild craziness, but I like a good tale too. I am placing a C+/B- in my gradebook. I wanted to like it more.

For a chance to win passes for two to see “Quantum of Solace,” “Bolt” and “Transporter 3,” visit Laurie Coker's movie review website at www.trueviewreviews.net.

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