The new James Bond movie is out. Once again, actor Daniel Craig portrays Ian Fleming's timeless hero as a decisive killer with a heart. Will this new Bond film satisfy its fans? VOA's Penelope Poulou has a review.
The plot of "Quantum of Solace" begins an hour after James Bond's lover, Vesper, has been killed by a nefarious organization.
Bond is determined to find Vesper's killers, but his quest for revenge runs against the wishes of his Majesty's Secret Service chief, who fears that Bond may be losing his grip.
Although Bond says he's doing his duty, his pain is etched on his face, dry martini in hand, blood on his tuxedo. He's a killing machine, but a wreck of a man.
Director Marc Forster says the vulnerability makes this Bond intriguing and ultimately, loved.
"So it gives us this perfect opportunity in 'Quantum of Solace' to jump into a more emotional journey of Bond and, in a sense, a deeper Bond," says Forster.
Clues lead Bond to Haiti and to Camille, a beautiful and decisive woman. Olga Kurylenko plays Camille.
"Camille is this woman who's on a mission," Kurylenko says. "She's driven by revenge because of things that happened to her family in the past, and she has to get her revenge."
Camille had watched her mother and sister as they were tortured and killed by a Bolivian ex-dictator. She has vowed to seek him out him and kill him. She knows that the only way to get close to him is through her lover, Dominic Greene, the arch villain of the story.
Greene is in charge of a secret organization that seeks to own the planet's water resources and create puppet regimes across the globe. But Bond and Camille thwart his plans.
Unlike previous Bond movies, the Bond girl is his partner in arms - not his lover.
Daniel Craig delivers an excellent performance. He is the quintessential James Bond. He is also athletic and does his own stunts.
"Traditionally, it's been what actors do," Craig says. "And if you take movies back to Buster Keaton and Carlie Chaplin, that's what those guys did. They didn't have doubles. They were the ones falling off the window."
The rest of the cast is memorable, too. Dame Judi Dench plays M, Bond's chief, a composed, sensitive woman.
Mathieu Amalric plays Dominic Greene with a glint of insanity.
But the film's plot runs flat. There is no mystery or tension.
Still, "Quantum of Solace," shot across the world, is a visual extravaganza.
The film's is most impressive in its crisp and tightly cut action scenes. They are relentless. Agents shooting at each other while dangling from Roman domes, breathtaking dogfights with prop planes in the middle of deserts. These sequences are so fast and brutal they are over the top.
But then again, how else can a Bond movie top its prequel? And what's next? It remains to be seen.
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