Quantum of Solace
Blu-ray
Directed by Marc Forester
Starring Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric
Paramount Home Entertainment
Release Date: March 24, 2009

The James Bond series could very well go on forever. Even after 20 films, it is possible to reinvigorate the series, as the films starring Daniel Craig have proven. Honestly, I have never been a big fan of Bond and hearing that the series was going to be rebooted with Craig didn’t seem to be anything worth getting excited over. Well, I was wrong, and happy to admit it.

Though it may be sacrilegious to say so, doing away with the cheesy gadgets, the overly suggestive character names, and even the one-liners have saved this series, and it’s obvious the new Bond will not be anything like the old ones. A scene in Casino Royale really established the mentality of the new series in relation to the old, as a bartender asks Bond if he wants his martini shaken or stirred, he snaps back “Do I look like I give a damn!?” The new bond is darker, more realistic (not that that is a stretch), and much more intense.

Quantum of Solace continues this new spirit with style. As an emotionally tortured Bond continues his quest for vengeance, details emerge about a mysterious and far-reaching shadow organization. The movie not only brings closure to many elements of Casino Royale, but establishes a strong foundation for the sequels that will obviously be made.

Quantum of Solace
Directed by Marc Forster
Starring Daniel Craig, Gemma Arterton, Judi Dench, Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Jesper Christensen
Rated R
Release date: November 14, 2008

Casino Royale for me was the definitive James Bond. It took author Ian Fleming‘s British super spy back to his rough-and-tumble roots while giving him a 21st century makeover and a new direction for a darker post-September 11 world lacking in operatic villains with stylish bases and magnificent science-fiction weapons. Under the direction of Martin Campbell, Daniel Craig became the best cinematic portrayal of James Bond since Sean Connery was first fitted for Agent 007’s tuxedo in 1962’s Dr. No.

Craig had previously been best known as a intense actor specializing in playing characters who existed in the grayest of areas in films like Road to Perdition, Love is the Devil, Layer Cake, and Munich. Born with piercing blue eyes and a distinctly roguish charisma reminiscent of Steve McQueen, Craig was the perfect choice to play a James Bond reborn into a world where the terrors we read about everyday in the newspapers and online far exceed the evils of the would-be world conquerors the suave MI6 agent has faced before on the big screen.

Now two years after Casino Royale brought Bond blazing back to theaters in top form comes Quantum of Solace, the first Bond film that continues the story from the previous one and builds on it, expanding the secret agent’s world beyond the pulp novels that gave birth to him into a bleaker and more dangerous world. Now we have a Bond who sports more than his fair share of scars both on his face and his soul. Quantum, in a way, is like an extension of the third act of Casino, and in the end some of Bond’s questions have been answered but more have been raised. This is a James Bond for a different time. He won’t be sipping champagne on a yacht in bed with a beautiful lady when the curtain closes on this tale. This is the movie where he truly becomes Bond… James Bond.