GI Joe : The Rise of Another Lame Franchise

In our younger days often we hear our parents telling us to be ambitious, shoot for the sky they said, even if you missed you still land on the clouds was the reasoning. Alas though like reality when you try to fly, and if you fail, you’ll end up hurtling to earth in a burning ball of wreckage which ends up leaving an unsightly stain behind. That though is often omitted for the benefits of our delicate young minds I guess. What does that have to do with this blog I hear you ask, well the answer is in two words, Stephen Sommers. A director so apparent in his need for recreating his childish fantasies that if given any form of encouragement will definitely try to do it all in one film. Ambition in Hollywood is often a surefire way to derision and failure as demonstrated to stunning consequences like this years’ Transformers and Terminator sequels.

GI JOE is an elite multi national anti-crime/terrorist organization headed by the stout General Hawk. They are called into battle when the latest in cutting edge warfare, the nano-tech based missiles, is attacked en-route to its first delivery by forces that seem to have even more advanced weaponry. Two of the accompanying guards, Duke and Ripcord, manages to fend off the attackers and Duke also recognizes one of the attackers to be his ex fiancé now going under the guise of The Baroness. Because of their outstanding performance the 2 men are recruited into the outfit where they will serve with the existing members Scarlett, Heavy Duty and Snake Eyes. It soon becomes clear that the weapons manufacturer, James McCullen is behind an attempt to steal the missiles to both create an international crisis as well as settle a century long family blood feud.

When I first heard they were doing a GI Joe movie I snickered but held out hope they could make it relevant and when I heard they had gotten Sommers involved, expectations immediately nose dived. This was after all the man who gave us Van Helsing, a film which could have been so cool but ended up being so utterly bad that I though there would be no return for him. Sommers biggest crime is always his inherent need to cram as much elements into a film as humanly possible and his total lack of follow through on any of them as can be seen if you compared the first Mummy and its sequel. Without a strong and frugal producer’s hand behind him his films tend to be just a skipping through of one idea after another. Also reality and often even gravity is not adhered to when he writes his scripts with his protagonists often escaping peril through impossible maneuvers.

In his latest he is again guilty of the all of the above but he has managed to craft a stupid but fun, with the former edging out the later slightly, action film that while not memorable is still entertaining enough to edge out some of this summer’s more anticipated action fare. Its fun but in a very retarded sort of manner and its most enjoyable when no one’s talking or whenever Siena Miller’s breast makes an appearance, I kid you not when it say they truly steal every scene in the movie and they look much better when compared to Megan Fox’s slow motion running in Transformers 2. It was also good to see Joseph Gordon Levitt making the best out of a crap role by truly hamming it up. The action sequences are well staged with the Paris chase a highlight and also the Storm Shadow/Snake Eyes duel was handled well even through it was derivate of The Phantom Menace’s ending with a reversed role for Ray Parks.

Now for the Bad and where else to begin but from the acting department, so step right up 90% of the actors involved. Watching Channing Tatum brings to mind the other great thespian, CasperVan Diem, an actor who could convey all his emotions through a simple furrow of his brow, which is fortunate considering that’s the only action he knows how to do properly. I understand that this is an ensemble cast but couldn’t they have found a more engaging lead actor because there isn’t an aorta of charm and charisma in him which could have make such a huge difference to the film. A brief cameo by Brendan Fraser was much better the his performance for the rest of the film which boggles the mind as to why Brendan wasn’t offered the role in the first place. Dennis Quaid phoned this one in and cashed another pay check, the always mute Ray Parks is adequate as the mute Snake Eyes, Rachel Nichols brings some charm to the good girls but not much, Marlan Wayans is his usual unbearable self and Jonathan Pryce is criminally underused. The script is just full of lazy plot holes and convenient resolutions, oh! Deadly nano tech missiles are headed for Washington you say, no worries there just so happen to be a super sonic jet fighter parked nearby with no form of security around.

My advice to you, watch the movie if you have 2 hours to spare or if you have an great love for original cartoons but bear in mind that like all our childhood favorites its never as good as we remembered them to be. Watch it to see the stunning Siena Miller in what should be her breakthrough Hollywood role and for the crazy action sequences and you will have a guaranteed good time. As of the time I’m writing this the movie has already opened to great commercial success so brace yourself for the bigger, better, dumber and all around more ‘ambitious’ sequels coming your way soon.

Watchmen - Perhaps Alan Moore Was Wrong

For every comic fan there is only one bible. One book that demands to be read. A rite of passage to undertake to enter geekdom. A book that condenses the entire history of the Superhero myth and then deconstructs it. From the innocence of the Golden Age to the wonders that was the Silver Age and finally the anti heroes of the Modern Age. There is simply no two ways about it, if you are a comic fan this is The movie that you have been waiting for, in equal parts excitement and dread. Alan Moore famously said the book was unfilmable, and duely had his name removed from the film, and he would have been right had it not been for a very courageous young director who obviously understands the importance of the property to millions of rabbid fans.

It is the year 1985 and Richard Nixon is still in the White House and America has won the Vietnam War thanks to the help of Dr Manhattan, a god like super hero that can rearrange matter and time. In the back drop Russia is still in the cold war with the US but is incapable of any real threats as long Dr Manhattan acts as the counter balance. All super heroes have been banned and outlawed due to public outcry and most are living a bored life of retirement. All that however changes when it one of them is murdered and it seems that there is a conspiracy to kill other retired heroes as well.

The only active vigilante left Rorschach, who borders on being a psychopath himself, decides to investigate the brutal murder of The Comedian, a former Watchman who became a black ops member for the government, and the deeper he goes the more dangerous it becomes. He enlists the helps of his former teammates, Nite Owl and Silk Spectre, as it becomes clear that there is something far more sinister at work that may involve Dr Manhattan. As old friends and even old adversaries become drawn together, they are forced to face painful memories as well as harsh realities and by the end may only god save the planet from nuclear annihilation.

This is clearly a movie made for the fans because in some instances the scenes are a direct replica of the comic panels and except for some minor deviation the bulk of the book is almost slavishly replicated on screen. For those who saw 300 you would know what I’m talking about. First off making a movie that a features multiple naked blue men could not have been an easy sell to the studios, and for that we really have to give a big thank you to Zack Snyder for having the guts to go through with it. Clearly without the success that he got from 300 he wouldn’t have had the clout to push this through as complete as it was. I still think he overdoes it a bit with the slow mo’s but on the whole he has done an incredible job of telling a story that took an entire text book to write into a 3 hour movie that not only not bores but often times leaving you in heightened expectation of what’s to come.

Watchmen, the book, took and unknown group of superheroes that was modeled on existing popular ones and progresses to strip away the layers painful one at a time and therefore it is not an easy read and it certainly isn’t an action story, even though it contains many action scenes. To understand watchmen you need to put yourself back into the 80’s- the cold war was still on, crime rate in America was at an all time high, the US was still dealing with the aftermath of their failure in Vietnam and the threat of Nuclear Holocaust was always hanging around- the US was basically still coming to terms about their own vulnerability and much of their uncertainty certainly reflected in their comics. People began to question everything when before everything was simple and clear cut. Superman was the good guy who fought the good fight but in this new age people was more interested in what he had to hide in his closet. How could a god really understand humans? In 12 issues Alan Moore managed to not only deconstruct many of the prevailing stereotypes of the superhero myth but also lay the foundation for what was to come for the future so there can be no mistaking the importance of the only graphic novel to be featured in Times 100 greatest work of fiction in the last century.

Watchmen, the movie, have managed to carry many of these themes intact over to the big screen and it is a credit to both the writers and the directors that for the most part the movie works extremely well. Even more impressive was some of the performances and top of the list would be Jackie Earle Haley whose portrayal was the personification of Rorschach. Watching him was exactly like what you had in mind when reading him, from his movements to his speech to his mannerism, every little detail was perfect. Evrytime he wasn’t on screen I was just waiting for him to show up. Rorschach was a character who only see things in black and white, hence the mask, and his deep distaste for humankind makes his actions all the more compelling. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was also fantastic as the utterly despicable Comedian, here was someone who had behaved like an utter brute simply because he could and who ultimately became a pawn in a far bigger game. I found it refreshing that they have found a cast of relative unknowns because they bring a lot less attachment to the characters but I was quite partial to the idea of Tom Cruise for Ozymandias, one egomaniac playing another.

In a movie like this there are bound to be some missteps and I think the biggest one here is actually the inclusion of Nixon and his subplot because every time they appear on screen it sort of took me out of the moment. In addition I think his makeup is one of the worst I have seen in a blockbuster. A big thing about the movie was the soundtrack and on the whole the songs selected were complimentary there were a few that were quite jarring. On the acting front I think Malin Ackerman suffered the most with her stilted delivery and wooden expression despite having some of the most screen time and also what should have been the emotional core of the movie. Other than her good looks I couldn’t understand the reason why the guys where all after her.

Like I said before this is a movie made for the fans and this is indeed a double edged sword. My gut feeling is that this movie would have gone over the head of your average moviegoer. Sure The Dark Knight was a serious comic movie that was embraced by the audience but that movie was a self contained story while this one is an entirely different beast altogether. Watchman works on many levels but those levels would likely not be apparent to someone expecting an Iron Man experience and without a background in rudimentary fandom I doubt they will be able to get a complete experience from one sitting. While I haven’t watched it a second time I am utterly convinced that the movie will offer up much more at the second time of asking. Watchmen is certainly a qualified success filled many stunning images and for many of us fans we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and for those coming in unawares there is a lot be enjoyed here and also take comfort in the fact that if you don’t get it all the first time you will the second time or better yet, get the book.

Into The Wild - Understanding A Choice

Who among us have never dreamed of letting it all go at one point or the other? Just dropping every single possession we have and leave for the wide open road. Irresponsible? Yes. Cowardice? Perhaps. When life becomes unbearable, be it from jadedness or just a deep distaste of everyday life, isn’t it better to just run away? Whatever the answer may be most of us will ultimately grit our teeth and carry on while perhaps a few special, or foolish, souls will take the leap and see what is behind the magic mirror. Whether this is the right or wrong thing to do depends on your perspective but what is for sure its going to be one hell of an adventure. Into The Wild is the story of one such person and his journey to attain ultimate freedom, from society and everything that it entails.

Christopher McCandless is a top student and athlete from Emory University who donated his life savings to charity and just disappeared from the lifes of his family to experience life away everything materialistic. A product of a financially successful but unloving family, he grew up to love the simple things in life and reject the sort of materialistic pursuit that consumed his parents. His philosophy was that a person could be happy even without any human relationship and any material wealth. Despite rejecting society he would attract people to him by his simple honesty and they would come to make a big part of his travels. On his travels he finally settle on a destination, a place where he would find the solitude that he craves and also the ability to live off the earth, Alaska.

First off this is not Forrest Gump and there is no happy ending waiting and the fact that this is based on a true story gives it a much needed dramatic pull and also the fact that there has been much discussion about the actions of McCandless makes it interesting to see which side of the argument the movie would fall on. Many have accused him of being stupid and more have come to admire his courage but ultimately I find it fitting that the film holds a balanced view in that for long periods of his travels he did find the peace he so wanted. I find it extremely disturbing that so many have rushed to pass judgment on his actions, I would think that it is enough that he did what he needed to do and he was at peace with the outcome. How many of us can truly say the same?

I think first off Emile Hirsch has done an incredible job in depicting first the rage and finally the peace of McCandless. Many of the scenes involved no dialogue and feelings had to be conveyed by body language alone and it says a lot about him that even in these scenes you are compelled to follow his every movement. He has given the character a very relatable persona and you can’t help but feel for the character and his pain and his all encompassing need to be away from the people closest to him including his sympathetic sister. In fact the film has managed to illicit many good performances from its cast even one unexpectedly from Vince Vaughn, who plays slightly against character. I especially like Catherine Keener as the damaged Jan and her affection for Christopher really shone through and how he became the son that she lost. William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden as the fighting and always materialistic parent are not given much screen time but they do the best with what they have. Hal Holbrook is also very good as the grandfatherly Ron who tries his best to dissuade McCandless from going to Alaska.

Sean Penn has really impressed me with his handling of the material despite occasionally veering into character worshipping. This is not an easy story to tell honestly because much of the time is the character alone with his thoughts and the challenge is to make that engaging and he does pull it off more often than not. When a life is lost we often grapple with the whys and hows and when it is as controversial as this the debate becomes more heated but I do find the whole process extremely tedious and irrelevant because this was a choice made sanely and maturely so why should we try to second guess the reasons. Into The Wild is a good movie with an interesting story to tell and I sincerely recommend it to everyone but do not expect to be entertained.

Valkyrie - Competent but lacking

If ever there was an opponent to the age old saying of there’s no such thing as bad publicity it would have to be Valkyrie. Plagued early on by refusal from the German government to grant shooting permits to debate about the correct accent to use and also rumors that the whole thing was just an excuse for Tom Cruise to lobby for Scientology to be recognized in Germany, it is indeed a wonder that we finally have the finished product. All these issues have indeed combined to take away a lot of the thunder from the film itself which is a pity because Cruise is back to his best as a charismatic leading man.

Valkyrie is a film a group of German military officers who dared to stage a coup in WW2 against Adolph Hitler. Their plan was to assassinate Hitler and take over the government quickly through Hitler’s own contingency plan were he to be assassinated, codenamed Valkyrie. They would lay the blame on the SS and with the help of the reserve army would install a new leader which would negotiate a peace treaty to end WW2. Point man on this would be General Von Stauffenberg, a dedicated family man who is disgusted with the war and also the grisly acts committed by the Nazi regime, and he would be assisted by a cadre of senior military leaders. Von Stauffenberg witnessed first hand the cost of war where in Africa he lost his an eye and a hand to allied bombing raids and he is determined that his beloved Germany would not suffer such a fate.

Like I said earlier Cruise is back to his best and when he is this good you just can’t take your eyes away from him. Forget all the couch hopping and Scientology crap and at the very core of it you have a damn good actor who is always engaging and here he is just simply blinding. I know that there isn’t a lot of love these days for Cruise with all his erratic behaviors and such but I seriously think that we have yet to see the best of Tom Cruise. He losing his box office appeal may indeed be the best thing to happen for him because now he is free to explore edgier material like this and hopefully there will be more to come from Tom Cruise the actor rather than the movie star.

This is also a return to form of sorts for Bryan Singer who got so much flake for the underwhelming Superman Returns and he has once again demonstrated he is best when dealing with suspenseful thrillers. Singer is a good director, of that there can be no doubt, but it is odd that somehow in his recent movies there is a distinct lack passion unlike say in movies like the first two Spiderman films where you could practically see the love Sam Raimi had for the character in every frame. Here he does invest in the characters and their ultimate fate but it still feels a bit cold, which is something he is going to have to work on in the future.

It’s always quite dangerous to base a movie on a real event because it tends to take away most of the suspense and anticipation especially if it is a well documented one like the one here and that is the principal problem I had with the film. While it was sporadically thrilling on the whole it felt more like a history lesson and less of the tragedy that it was. The one thing you can’t fault about the movie though is the extremely impressive supporting cast consisting of a veritable who’s who of European film talent. Tom Wilkinson stood out the most as the boorish Gen. Fromm, Bill Nighly as the sympathetic Gen. Olbricht and Terence Stamp as Ludwig Beck. It was slightly disappointing to see Carice von Houten to be so underused who was so great in another WW2 movie, The Black Book, and also it was odd that Kenneth Branagh would disappear so soon into the movie.

Valkyrie will not be a contender for the Oscars but that doesn’t mean it is entirely without merit because the events depicted here was an important act in history and it deserved to be told. It is also a showcase of how good Cruise is as a leading man and the range that he possesses. The film is extremely historically correct with some slight embellishment for dramatic purposes but overall Christopher McQuarrie has scripted an engaging if somewhat pedestrian movie about one of the biggest What if? events of our time.

The Spirit - Farcical

Let me just preface this review by saying upfront that the nearest I got to reading The Spirit comic was looking at the cover of the collection in Borders bookstores. I had never read it but have heard many good things about it but it was never high on my shopping list but I did remember the titular hero wearing a blue suit which meant they have changed it for the movie. I knew that the creator, Will Eisner, was a legend in the industry so I was pretty sure the source material must have at least been quite good and so I deduce that after watching the movie the blue suit was not the only thing Frank Miller changed for the movie. Quite frankly there really isn’t anything remotely even good about the movie aside from the eye candy.

Denny Colt is a rookie cop killed in the line of duty who has mysteriously returned to land of the living and in doing so have gained immortality and have taken up the duty to safeguard his beloved city. Meanwhile his nemesis, The Octopus, is busily tracking down an unknown item that will turn him into a god and together with his sidekick, Silken Floss, they attempt to get it back from the beautiful thief that is Sand Saref. Sand also has a history that is tied to the city as well as to Denny who is also trying to track down the said item with the help of Commissioner Dolan and another idealistic officer, Morgenstern.

The very first thing that will occur to you is that the movie looks awfully like Sin City and that’s because the director here Frank Miller also co-directed that movie but more importantly created the said look through his award winning graphic novel. I find it very odd that while he demanded such literal translation for his work he has decided to completely ditch the original look of The Spirit. But that in it self is not the problem with the movie because design and cinematography is about the only good thing in the film. It is basically an extension of what we got in Sin City with a bit more color added in to the palette. Even in this department there are some missteps like the underwater scene with Eva Mendes which just looked odd but given how the movie turned out I’m willing to let it slide.

The worst aspect of the film has to be the ridiculous plot and the horrendous dialog because I sincerely think that never has they been so much rubbish been spew on screen. The laughable dialog is just so cringe inducing that you will yearn for nails on a chalkboard and if that isn’t bad enough the sheer amount of it really pushes it into the fiasco territory. Seriously I have never heard such stupid dialog being uttered and this coming from a huge fan of b movies and connoisseur of camp. Compliments to the actors for managing to get through it somehow with a straight face albeit not with their reputation intact because I seriously think that some of the people involved in this movie might get some serious blowback namely one Mr Frank Miller.

I happily lay all the blame for this fiasco, not to mention my wasted ticket money, squarely on his door steps because as the scriptwriter/director he can hardly blame others for the direction that the movie took. Whereas the whole stylized black and white look worked for Sin City because of the hard boiled story, here it just looks jarring given how campy the script was shooting for. As a scriptwriter you must allow for the actors to work their magic in conveying the message with their actions and not have them describe every action down to every detail. This is clearly the mark of an inexperienced writer and also director because despite having such a huge cast they aren’t really given much to do except posturing and uttering these stupid lines. Even though the source material was a comic it doesn’t mean that all the characters have to be cardboard characters who all conform to some sort of stereotype and if the Dark Knight and Spiderman has taught us anything, comics provide some of the best source for serious exploration of personalities.

I really feel sad for some of actors involved especially Gabriel Macht because this was supposed to be his big break and while I’m not familiar with his work he did show enough quality here to suggest he deserves better. His Denny Colt always seems to have a grin and a charm about him that almost made him believable with the keyword being almost. Coming out worst of all has to be Samuel L Jackson who seemed to have completely lost the plot and overacted to a degree not seen since John Travolta in Battlefield Earth. Eva Mendes at least have something to do other than showing her big ass, which she does constantly, but the same can’t be said for the rest of ladies involved. Jaime King was ridiculous as Lorelei, the angel of death, with most of her scenes consisting of close ups. Paz Vega was ridiculous as the ridiculously named Plaster of Paris, an ‘expert’ who spoke French with a Spanish accent. Scarlet Johansson just seemed bored and it really did looked like she knew the movie was going to bomb big timed.

If anything for me this movie is a justification for me and my believe that Frank Miller is completely over the hill and while I think Sin City and 300, the comics, was good I do think he is extremely over rated. His ego seemed to have grown exponentially when Sin City was released and this will hopefully serve as a timely reminder for him not to buy into his own hype. As it is The Spirit is a joke and a fiasco of the higher order which in one stroke may have ended the Hollywood career of Frank Miller, perhaps deservedly so.

Ip Man - It Really Is That Damn Good

To say that the HK movie industry is in the doldrums would only be stating the obvious and also a huge understatement. There are many causes for this and piracy being the obvious culprit but in my opinion the root cause goes much deeper than that. For many year HK movies was characterized by its crazy frenetic pace and energy where anything goes which was so perfectly captured by John Woo and Jackie Chan among others and audience just responded to its mindlessness and in turn helped to make the stars of that time gain true international recognition. However as the 80’s gave way to the 90’s so did the taste of the audience, who fed on a diet of Hollywood blockbuster, begin to demand better local fare but faced with a dwindling market and talent drain the studios responded the only way they knew how which was to produce cheap knock offs of their western counterparts. With an ever decreasing talent pool and with no improved infrastructure to cultivate new talent the outlook is looking increasingly bleak it is no wonder that most movies from the territory resemble recycled or rehashed tv dinners. All this however have nothing to do with Ip Man which is perhaps one of the best movies to come out of HK since God knows when.

Pre WW2 Fo San is a thriving metropolis famous for its martial arts clubs but its most famous exponent has decided not to have any disciples but that doesn’t stop any up and comers from coming to challenge him in the hope of making a name for himself. The doting family man constantly finds it difficult to balance the requirements of marriage and his love for the art. All this however comes to an abrupt end when the Japanese invades China and reduce the population to one of abject poverty and the only way to survive is through the most basic of manual labor. The general in charge of Fo San is interested in the art of fighting and constantly arrange for fights between the Chinese and his Japanese soldiers in return for rice. It is in one of these fights that Ip Man discovers his true calling to provide the downtrodden a hope for the future.

For those of us who have been yearning for some good actual martial arts fight scene you will not be disappointed because there is none of the wire hanging posturing crap we have been fed so much of lately. A credit to the guys behind the scene for doing a great job in making the fight look and feel every bit the way it was supposed to be. A slight disappointment was the end fight which was clearly lopsided but by then most would already have had their adrenaline fix. I was so worried going in that they would pull a Zhang Yimao on us and go all pretentious. I have always liked Donnie Yen and always felt he was underrated during the Jackie Chan/Jet Li days and this movie again proves that if given enough screen time and a relatively good script he can more than hold his own. Not since SPL have we had something like this which is pure unadulterated kick assness as its best and it makes no apologies about it.

The best thing about the movie is that for the most part it manages to stay far away from the cornier side of things that movies of these sorts invariably tend to gravitate towards. While I certainly think it is one of the better HK film this year that really isn’t saying much and Ip Man could also certainly have been helped with a better and tighter script. There are too many sub plots like Simon Yam’s that could certainly have been tighten as opposed to being felt like an after thought. After sitting though the disappointment of Flash Point and the utterly horrendous Painted Skin this is return to form for Donnie Yan and also director Wilson Yip which both manages to be a great tribute to the man behind the legend but also as a successful reminder of what HK cinema could be.

Quantum of Solace - A Flashy Disappointment

I think it’s fair to say that almost everyone of us were surprised with how good Casino Royale turned out given all the bad publicity that preceded it, chief among them the controversial decision to cast what some have called the ugliest Bond ever, Daniel Craig. What made Royale successful was how it managed to make Bond relevant again by reclaiming the stylishness of the franchise while imbuing him with a raw edge that often bordered on being thuggish. It introduced us to a young Bond who was just about to start his journey to become the super spy that thrilled the sixties to the eighties and Quantum of Solace is supposed to show the continued evolution of the character. Well, I’m sad to report that not only have Bond not evolved the rate of his degeneration is downright alarming.

Quantum picks up an hour after Royale ends, with Bond on the run from the henchmen of Mr White, with the said gentleman in his car boot. Bond then brings him to a safe house in Italy where M and other agents are waiting to question him about the organization that he is part of. It turns out that the organization has already infiltrated MI6 and it manages to get White out. Bond goes on the hunt and the tracks lead him to Haiti where he meets the beautiful Camille and more importantly to Dominic Greene, the head of a eco friendly conglomerate called Planet Green. It turns out Planet Green is only a front for the Quantum organization, which is made up of some of the most powerful people in the world, that is organizing the political takeover of Bolivia as part of a more insidious overall plan.

While I do admit to being happily surprised by Royale I always thought of it as an action movie first and a Bond movie second simply because it lacked the playfulness that characterized the franchise and also the focus being on hard and gritty realistic action. In Quantum that distinction is even more apparent with Bond being thrown into one elaborate action set piece, granted some are very exciting set pieces, after the other in his unrelenting mission to avenge the death of Vesper. The set pieces and in particular the opening sequence is often very good and I don’t think any action junkie will go wanting but the sheer number of them that are included makes any form of characterization or emotional development extremely difficult. I find it difficult to understand why the producers decided on such a short runtime and not allow the character to grow a bit, not to mention for the viewer to take a breather, which would have greatly enhanced the movie. The focus is to get the action looking gritty and realistic but it’s gotten to the point where it may just become a caricature of itself with some of the stunts beginning to seem extremely unbelievable. With all the grittiness the greats suits he wear seems highly out of place and they may as well just put him in jeans and t-shirts for the whole of the next movie.

I did like the fact that M was very much involved in this outing and her interactions with Bond was the only avenue for him to show any form of emotions. Judi Dench as always owns whatever role she plays and its no different here with her M being the only anchor Bond has to the rest of the world and we begin to see her becoming increasingly loyal to him. Daniel Craig gets to show off some nifty fight moves and also his increasingly buff physique but not much else which is a shame given what a promising start he had in Royale. Olga Kurylenko is fittingly sexy as the main Bond girl and she is at least given a relevant back story as opposed to being just swept along for the ride but hers’ isn’t a character that will leave a lasting impression. The one character I had fun watching was Mathieu Amalric’s Dominic Green who came across equal parts menacing, creepy and also cowardly and for some reason he reminded me of a creepy version of Jean Todt, with his odd stare and slimy smile. None of the supporting cast or returning characters are given anything to work with and they exist simply to move the plot along and if you didn't watch Royale you would not care if they lived or die.

The thing with Quantum is that it feels like a darker second act in a three part series much like how The Empire Strikes Back was and as it stands now the third act needs to tie up many loose ends to make this entry relevant. For the majority of 2 hours we see an angry Bond flying from one exotic location to another just to beat up some baddie, occasionally finding some spare time to bed the obligatory beauty, and it just seems a bit futile in the end with nothing really being resolved or advanced except for closure to Vesper’s act. Clearly the new Bond is being modeled after the Bourne series, right down to the shaky hand held camera angles, but I would hate to see it become an inferior copy of that franchise. Every chapter of the Bourne series manages to move the character further along on his quest to discover his identity and it always provided a satisfactory end until the next part but Bond here has failed in doing that. Quantum of Solace is a great action movie but by the standards of its predecessor it leaves a lot to be desired and I’m really hoping that the third act will somehow pull everything together and give us the Bond that we deserve.