Worry not, I will post no spoilers.(Except this one: my title isn't as clever as I'd like, because as you may have read, Bond doesn't say "Bond, James Bond," in this movie.)
So this was an interesting movie. It was interesting because it really is a complete re-imagining of the Bond movie. Previous movies had vacuous villains, ludicrous locations, and goofy gadgets. (Man, I'm awesome.) Not to mention, the plot lines were getting just a little bit tired (okay, a lot tired), they were insanely predictable, and getting progressively, willingly stupid-er. Quantum of Solace does change things around, and the result is a little confusing, but mostly refreshing.
I'm beginning to think that the Bourne trilogy has had much more of a profound effect on film than I ever thought. Quantum of Solace takes whole chapters out of the "Bourne Guide to Film-Making" -- everything is shot extremely close to the action (it helps that most scenes are in cramped spaces, anyway), the editing is lightning fast, and there are bits and pieces left out here and there (we don't actually see him get into a car, for example; one cut, and he's driving away). The action takes a lot of cues from Bourne, too. This time around, there are no gadgets -- no knocking out baddies with poison dart cufflinks. So everytime Bond gets into a fight, he has to use what he has at hand to help him. (And no, no one gets stabbed with a pen.) It's a little weird to see Bond act just like Jason Bourne, but I think it works really well for this movie, especially given the way they wanted to reboot the Bond franchise.
Another aspect of the movie worth noting -- this is the first Bond movie ever that is a direct sequel. So if you haven't seen Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace won't make a whole lot of sense to you. Which leads me to my one real complaint about the movie. If you've seen Casino Royale, you may want to watch it again before seeing Quantum of Solace, because the movie is still pretty confusing. There's no setting up the movie at all; it pretty much assumes that you remember the first movie in pretty good detail. It took while to recall the events of the first film, and even after that, the film didn't do a whole lot to help me out. I had to do a lot of hard thinking about why characters were doing certain things in the movie, and what their motivations were. Maybe that's on purpose; they want me to think about the movie. But I was in no mood to do thinking. I would have liked for everything to be explained a little more than it was. But by the end of the movie, I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on the events and plot. But it took until the end -- not something I much care for.
But all those considerations aside, I did really like the movie. Although sometimes it dragged a little (probably because I didn't understand what was going on), it was a good action flick. I really do appreciate the Bond they're building -- he seems like a real person. Still stone cold, still able to do what duty requires, but he doesn't look like a goofball doing it. (Think Pierce Brosnan Bond. Not like him.) Again, I liked the movie a lot, and I plan on watching it again when it comes out on DVD (and not just because I want to watch it with a better understanding of the plot -- it's just worth watching again). So if you like action movies, or Bond films (or both, if you know what's good for you), you'll go watch this one while it's still in theaters. It's definitely worth the money to get the experience on the big screen.
(By the way, the opening song by Jack White and Alicia Keys was awesome.)
