Quantum of Solace Release Date: March 24, 2009 Own it on Blu-ray and DVD Director: Marc Forster Writers: Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade Stars: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright MPAA Rating: PG-13 HoboTrashcan’s Rating:

“If you could avoid killing every possible lead, it would be deeply appreciated.”

- M, Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace is the sequel to 2006’s Casino Royale (which makes it the 22nd Bond film overall). The film begins where Casino Royale left off, meaning that James Bond is still upset over the death of Vesper Lynd and is looking for revenge on the people who turned her against him. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to do it without killing every possible lead.

Bond begins looking into the secret organization named Quantum that Casino Royale’s villain, Le Chiffre, was working for, which leads him to the beautiful Camille (played by Olga Kurylenko) and the evil Dominic Greene (played by Mathieu Amalric). Greene is aiding a military leader in Bolivia named General Medrano, who is seeking to overthrow the Bolivian government. Greene promises General Medrano that he can help him rise to power in exchange for land in the desert that is seemingly worthless. Camille, who like Bond is motivated by revenge, wants to kill General Medrano and is using Greene to get close to him. Bond also crosses paths with Strawberry Fields (played by Gemma Arterton), who works at the British consulate in Bolivia and is tasked with bringing Bond back in from the field.

In addition to the new characters, there are also several familiar faces from Casino Royale. Judi Dench is back as M (and is given a more substantial role this time around), Giancarlo Giannini returns as René Mathis (who helps Bond in this film even though Bond accused him of being a traitor in Casino Royale) and Jeffrey Wright is back as CIA Agent Felix Leiter (who is put in a tough spot in this film, since the CIA is morally-ambiguous about Greene’s actions and is willing to look the other way while Greene attempts to overthrow the Bolivian government if the arrangement is beneficial to America).

Being a Bond film, the four most important elements are the action scenes, the Bond girls, the villain and the gadgets, so let’s take briefly a look at each of these elements in Quantum of Solace.

The action scenes in the film are all top notch. The movie includes an opening car chance sequence (Bond is driving a beautiful Aston Martin DBS V12), a boat chase and an airplane dogfight. Probably the best scene of the three is the boat chase, but all three sequences are well done and enjoyable to watch. I could tell they probably played great on the big screen, but even on DVD the scenes still held up well.

The Bond girls in the film are certainly lovely, but neither one is overly memorable. Olga Kurylenko does a very convincing job in all of her action sequences, but I never felt invested in her character. There is something about Camille that just falls flat. I wanted to root for her to get her revenge, but I found myself not really caring about her backstory or her presence in the film. Gemma Arterton is incredibly charming as Strawberry Fields (which is a great name, even if it’s no Pussy Galore), but she was woefully underused and wasn’t really given enough scenes to make an impact on the film. More Fields and less Camille probably would have worked better, since smaller doses of Camille might have hidden the character’s flaws and more screentime for Arterton would have given Fields a chance to shine. As it stands, neither character comes close to the great job Eva Green did playing Vesper in Casino Royale.

The movie’s villain is perhaps the most disappointing element of the film. Unlike previous Bond villains, there is nothing grotesque or odd about Greene’s appearance, which could have worked, except there is also nothing interesting about his character. His plan to help overthrow Bolivia isn’t very exciting and even his secret use for the stretch of desert he wants, while evil, is incredibly boring. There is absolutely nothing memorable or exciting about Greene. And General Medrano is such a generic military dictator that he ends up being quite forgettable as well.

Like Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace is light on gadgets (since the makers of these films have decided to make Daniel Craig’s James Bond a more grounded and realistic version of the character). However, there are still a few interesting bits of spy gear, including Bond’s digital camera with facial recognition software and the fancy touchscreen computer used by MI6. While these devices certainly aren’t as exciting as some of the devices seen in previous Bond films, they work in this film.

In fact, fancy gadgets would have definitely seemed out of place in Quantum of Solace. The film goes out of its way to avoid the flashiness and slick look of previous Bond incarnations. While Bond does drive a beautiful Aston Martin in the opening car chase, throughout the rest of the film he travels in a rusty boat, a beat up VW bug and a low-tech vintage DC-3 airplane. Bond also spends a large chunk of his time in the same dirty, bloodstained shirt and travels through grimy street scenes and a vast desert, which definitely gives the movie a gritty feel. It’s not exactly what you expect from a Bond flick, but I liked the grungy, low-tech look of the movie. Since Bond was brooding over the loss of Vesper, the look of the film seemed to reflect his dark mood.

Unfortunately, I can’t say that I completely loved Quantum of Solace. While I enjoyed the action sequences, the look of the film and parts of the overall story, the blandness of Camille, Greene and General Medrano kept me from truly enjoying this Bond movie. I won’t try to compare it to previous incarnations of Bond, which I feel would be unfair, but I do feel like it’s fair to compare it against its predecessor, Casino Royale, which was a much better film. Vesper and Le Chiffre made Casino Royale better and overall I was definitely more emotionally-invested in that story.

The two-disc special edition comes with a variety of extras, including the “Another Way to Die” music video featuring Alicia Keys and Jack White, a series of “Crew Files” behind-the-scene clips (which were originally produced as webisodes for the Quantum of Solace website) and a variety of featurettes. The most interesting bonus feature is a half-hour featurette called “Bond on Location,” which gives a nice behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the movie. There are also a series of two to three minute featurettes including “Start of Shooting,” “Olga Kurylenko and the Boat Chase” and “Director Marc Forster,” but these short clips cover a lot of the same areas that “Bond on Location” does (and often use the exact same footage), so they really feel like a waste of time.

Overall, I’m fairly ambivalent about Quantum of Solace. It had quite a few great elements in it and it was by no means a terrible film, but it wasn’t a particularly great one either. Including a host of great features on the special edition might have made it worth the asking price, but the special features are fairly cookie-cutter and not terribly exciting. If you enjoyed Casino Royale, then I definitely recommend at least renting Quantum of Solace to see the next chapter in the life of Daniel Craig’s James Bond, but I can’t really recommend purchasing the DVD unless you are a diehard Bond fan who is looking to complete your collection.

Written by Joel Murphy. Quantum of Solace is available Blu-ray and DVD now.

Brian Murphy

It’s no secret that quarterback is the most glamorous position in professional sports. Regardless of whether we’re talking about in the movies or in real life the story remains the same – the job comes with great responsibility, but successful signal callers get the girl and the big payday. That being said, how’d you like to be Jason Campbell this week?

Coming off his first full season as a starter, the Washington Redskins quarterback suddenly finds himself in the unenviable position of “where will I be this time next week?” Remember, this is a guy who eight games through the 2008 season was being championed by guys like Peter King as a possible NFL most valuable player candidate. Now, because his employer cannot help but fall in love with big-name star appeal, he very well might be house hunting in the very near future.

As everyone knows by now, Jay Cutler is on his way out of Denver. The Broncos, led by first-year head coach Josh McDaniels, thought they had a chance to acquire Matt Cassel from New England and made a play for him. For whatever reason, it didn’t work out and Cassel ended up in Kansas City. More times than not the general public never knows when trade talks like this take place, but Denver’s flirtation with Cassel backfired and alienated Cutler.

After earning a trip to the Pro Bowl and throwing for more than 4,500 yards and 25 touchdowns, Cutler felt disrespected that the Broncos would even consider life without him. Because Denver even contemplated the move, Cutler is now hell bent on making it a reality, allegedly refusing to return phone calls when the owner and/or head coach tried to reach him.

Which brings us back to Campbell. Wednesday should have been a low-key day off for the four-year veteran. He spent the day at a charity event and the evening with his girlfriend and teammate Renaldo Wynn taking in the Capitals hockey game against the New York Islanders. But during the course of the game, rumors were flying that the ‘Skins were very much involved in the Cutler sweepstakes and by the time the Caps secured the 5-3 win, ESPN was reporting that the Redskins were shopping Campbell for a second-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft in hopes of gaining more ammunition for a Cutler deal.

”I want to be here, I feel like there’s a lot I want to accomplish and that’s what I’ve been working to do, but you know it’s not in your control,” Campbell told the Washington Post yesterday. ”All I can do is just keep doing what I’m doing, working hard and waiting to see what happens.’

Campbell went on to say, “With all the stuff out there, you know crazy stuff happens in this league. You just have to be ready for anything.”

The most telling comment from Campbell came next.

“A bunch of trade talk is what got Cutler mad at Denver, that’s the reason all that stuff started with him, but I wouldn’t do all that,” he said. “The thing you understand that there’s no loyalty in this game, so you just have to work hard. That’s all you can do.”

And that’s why I can’t help but shake my head at the whole situation. The reason all this is going on is because Cutler got his panties in a bunch after hearing the Broncos wanted Cassel.

Like a drama queen catching her husband checking out another woman, he stomped his feet and threw a hissy fit until the world knew he felt wronged. Instead of saying “suck it up, you’re under contract,” the Broncos have chosen to wash their hands of Cutler and build their team around someone who actually wants to be in Denver.

The only thing Campbell can be faulted for is being employed by a team that simply cannot help itself. Cutler represents the newest, shiniest toy on the market and that’s something Daniel Snyder has never been able to resist. Let me ask you a simple question – when have you ever heard that the Redskins were interested in acquiring a marquee player, either as a free agent or via trade, and it didn’t happen? Whether we’re talking about Clinton Portis, Albert Haynesworth or any of a dozen other names in between, if the Redskins want a name player, they typically get him regardless of cost.

My only hope is that if/when this does go down that Campbell ends up in a favorable position. He’s a down-to-Earth guy and a promising young talent. At 27 he’s got his best and brightest days as an NFL quarterback ahead of him. Just because the ‘Skins front office is the original fantasy football team doesn’t mean he’s done anything wrong. I’d love for him to stand up and defend himself, but he’s simply too classy to ever speak out against the team or the situation in general. That’s why I felt the need to do so on his behalf. It’s unlikely, but maybe for the first time in recent memory another team will outbid the Redskins for Cutler and Campbell will remain in town. If not, here’s hoping Campbell’s next destination is more appreciative than Washington of the player they’re fortunate enough to acquire.

Oh, and don’t be surprised if this eventual move tides the Redskins front office over until next season when they run Jim Zorn out of town in favor of Mike Shanahan (a.k.a. – the next shiny, new toy). Again, they simply cannot help themselves. They really can’t.

Brian Murphy is an award-winning sportswriter who also goes by the name Homer McFanboy. Contact him at murf@homermcfanboy.com.

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