Let's Take a Break from Advice and Quantumize some Solace

First off let me say, that the only ridiculous thing that I noticed this week was how drug deals on my campus go unpunished and yet my fish tank must go. There's a full blog on that to come. But for today, I wanted to set people straight in a different fashion. Every once in a while, I'm going to post reasons why one of my favorite movies is incredible, even though other people don't like it. They'll be even more long-winded than my other stuff because the only thing I love more than pointing out stupidity, is watching a good film. And if after reading my review, you still don't like the movie, that's fine. We can agree to disagree.

You'll just be in a strait jacket.

To begin, I think Casino Royale is the greatest Bond film of all time. I don't think they'll ever make a better one. I had accepted this fact before Quantum of Solace even came out. As such, I love Quantum. Why are people so surprised to find out that it's not as good as Casino? That's like going to a restaurant, eating a delicious steak, and then spitting it out because it's not quite as delicious as one you had two years ago. And then telling all of your friends to evade that restaurant like it's Al Capone's taxes.

Absolutely preposterous. Well, first let's go into why Casino is so good. The first hour functions as its own mini Bond film, meant to introduce us to Daniel Craig's intense and excellent Bond. Once we meet Vesper, the real movie begins (if you've got no idea what I'm talking about, then grow some taste and go watch these movies). She's the perfect Bond girl. She's gorgeous and smart but she doesn't steal the spotlight from Bond (like a certain Berry of the Halle variety). Put that together with a realistic plot, a great (not over-the-top) villain, some visceral fight scenes, and you've got one of the five films I'd take with me on a desert island (the kind with the DVD players made from reconstituted tree bark and LCD displays where the liquid is coconut milk).

Well, of course, the best part of the film is actually his relationship with Vesper. She manages to "melt his cold heart" to the point that he's ready to quit the service. I find that characters who are truly broken often have a turning point moment just before their identities are solidified where they could've been different. Under different circumstances, they might've chosen the other path. Batman was ready to give up the mantle and become Bruce Wayne again in The Dark Knight right before Rachel (the love of his life, and the representation of his childhood/humanity) died. Interlude: who says comic books can't be poetic? Michael Corleone was trying to start a family in Sicily before he truly became The Godfather. And it's the same case with Bond. He was ready to throw in the towel and rejoin the human race when he found out Vesper had been betraying him the whole time. That being said, he still tries to save her from dying, to no avail. Well, as complicated as the situation was, he summed it up with a single phrase: "The job's done, the bitch is dead." He was forcing himself to think that he felt nothing for her. How else could he be successful at his job? You can't very well deter hostile takeovers if you're all weepy that your girlfriend gave money to terrorists.

And thus we have Quantum of Solace, in which Bond finds his (wait for it) quantum of solace, i.e. his "minimal amount of comfort" or as the short story by Ian Fleming put it, the "connection that allows him to keep living." This is where people fail to see the point of the film. It's not really a sequel. It's the second half of the same film, or a dark reflection of it. The Bond girl is as screwed up as he is, the locales he visits are dirtier, the violence is more brutal, and Bond is colder than ever. This is what makes it so good. Bond is essentially in recovery. He ends up killing every lead that his investigation turns up. This is the mourning of an assassin. He's trying to do his job, but he's also trying to exact retribution on those who took away his happiness.

Now, one can debate about the plot. Is it very involved? No. But it's not supposed to be. It's realistic, which is good, and the villain is slimy and low-key, which also works for this type of film. That being said, we care about as much about the plot as Bond does. I personally like the amount of plot that is present, because it allows us to experience the story emotionally, as Bond does. He finds himself caught in the hero's "infinite loop" as I call it. As an example, Batman deters crime almost to the point of obsession (actually yes, to the point of obsession) because somewhere in his psyche, he actually believes that if he rids the city of crime, maybe his parents never would have died. They're never coming back, but he can't accept that. It's the same for Bond, he becomes attached to Camille, hoping on some level that if he aids her in her quest for revenge, he will have saved Vesper in a sense. However, it's not until the end of the film that he realizes that Camille was more like him than Vesper. And once she had her revenge, she says, "I keep thinking, now what?" She has nothing left.

It is at this point that the movie becomes truly incredible. Bond tells Camille, "I don't think the dead care about vengeance," which is fascinating when compared to M's line from earlier in the movie, "You'd have to be an exceptionally cold bastard to not want revenge for the death of someone you loved." This comparison is revealed to us more clearly when Bond tracks down the man responsible for Vesper's death, and then lets him go. Because that was his job. He decided that what would really bring him comfort, and give him a reason to live, was his duty. Not his feelings toward another person. When he steps outside to meet M, it's snowing. This is the first time it's snowed in a Bond film. Yes, he's been skiing a few times, but this is different. As he himself becomes colder, and in some ways, less human, (a necessity for the job) he literally steps out into the cold. When M asks him if he's back, he tells her, "I never left." This is similar to his line at the end of Casino. He's lying to himself so he can shut out his emotions for Vesper and move on with his life. He then casually tosses Vesper's necklace aside and walks off into the night. At this point, it's worth clarifying that all throughout the film, composer David Arnold brought back Vesper's theme music, a few soft notes on a piano, to reflect Bond's reminiscence. The final shot is of the necklace being overcome by the snow, and as this happens, Vesper's theme gradually fades until it's finally gone. The necklace represented what little amount of his heart he had managed to hold onto, and in the end he just threw it aside as though it had never really been there at all.

So there you go. Who says a Bond film can't have all the character depth of a boring Indie film AND explosions? I say a gifted filmmaking team can blend all of these things. You won't see any of that with Roger Moore, that's for sure. So rewatch Casino Royale and then give Quantum of Solace another shot, I think you might be surprised by what you find.