Daniel Craig has given me a QUANTUM OF SOLACE!

Did Roger Ebert see the same movie I just did? Did Roger Ebert really give DIE ANOTHER DAY three stars and this film two?! Is Roger Ebert really a unicorn? All fitting questions after a sizzling new Bond flick.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008)

Everyone give Daniel Craig a big pat on the back. Now. Before he kicks your ass.

Thanks in no small part to the overwhelming and unprecedented success of CASINO ROYALE, the Bond franchise has been miraculously resuscitated from the dead and spun into an intoxicating new direction that Ian Fleming and Cubby Broccoli would absolutely adore. Daniel Craig is nothing short of a blessing in a tux for 007 and the repercussions that come along with his fleeting talent have served as the jolt that this comatose series has needed after the particularly tedious Brosnan era, where nothing - even invisible cars, a laser beam from space, and a slutty Madonna - was out of the realm of possibility. Following up the success of CASINO ROYALE may have seemed a daunting task but the end result is one that is far from an Aston Martin-priced meltdown. QUANTUM OF SOLACE continues the reinvigoration of the Bond canon with another pulsating, dramatic new chapter that is sure to leave audiences shaken and... well, you know the rest.

QUANTUM is a brisk affair, and its love for action all but enhances this, as apparent by the first frames of the film that introduce us to a jarring (and pretty dusty) car chase over the Italian lakeside. The film makes no qualms about being relentless with its action pieces, and with the film's runtime already at a series-low, the film moves at a noticeably agile pace. But thanks to some of the finest dramatic touch that the series has ever seen, QUANTUM truly feels like a fully-rounded film, mixing short action set pieces with high-tension, effective character work.

The action has its highs and lows, and that's par for the course for Bond, but after its nimble use in CASINO ROYALE, expectations were high for "smart action," not just action-for-action's-sake. While QUANTUM's chases and dogfights never really feel like the walloping brainfarts of the Brosnan era, it certainly balances between genius and borderline unnecessary. The entire DC3 plane sequence could have gotten the hook altogether in fact, as it did nothing to further the plot and in the end fell victim to shoddy CGI and a lazy, clichéd bailout on the part of the authors (Oscar winning writer Paul Haggis being among them). It's not enough to give the film bad marks though, as the film shows off a couple of brilliantly crafted intercut sequences - the Tosca gunfight and the chase amid the Palio horse race - that display the artistry of acclaimed arthouse director Marc Forster (STRANGER THAN FICTION, MONSTER'S BALL).

But let's not fault the film for minor things, as on the whole, it's a pretty darn good flick that stands up with the leaders in its pack. After all, QUANTUM really succeeds in the areas that it had to in order to follow up CASINO even remotely respectively. QUANTUM features some of the most heart-wrenching and impactful twists and turns ever to be seen in a Bond picture, and the success of these daring, uncharted attempts is where Daniel Craig deserves all credit as being one of the most inspired choices in the history of franchise cinema. Craig is a one-man show, powering through the narrative with such a force that you can't help but sit back and think to yourself, "wow... this is a Bond film?" With all of the qualms about the film's short runtime being plagued by a non-stop bombardment of action, you would have never guessed that QUANTUM hits the spot with the drama. Not only does it capitalize on its every instance, it's what makes the film a stand-out among not only its canon but, dare I say, maybe the whole genre.

QUANTUM does have its flaws, notably the rapidfire shifting from location-to-location with little explanation and the resolution to various side-stories coming with the aid of quick bursts of action. The plot seems to move in baby steps, and like the action sequences, seems to be ironed out with a line or two of dialogue before jetting off (literally) to an entirely different series of events. Heck, even the film's controversial title track, Another Way To Die by Alicia Keys and Jack White, has been butchered to pieces over the famous naked-lady titles sequence (which new designers MK12 have done an okay job with - nothing particularly earth-shattering about them). Even with those complaints, it's far from enough to bring down the film as QUANTUM features fantastic performances all around: Craig delivers again, Mathieu Almaric is downright creepy and sinister as slimy environmentalist Al Go...I mean Dominic Greene, Giancarlo Giannini turns in a riveting presentation playing questionable ally René Mathis, and Bond vixen Olga Kurylenko shines when the volume is turned up. Forster may not have aced the chases and fight scenes but he took the dramatic stuff to a level that Bond has never before sniffed.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE is a fun ride. It's got the action and the perfectly-constructed drama to complement it. QUANTUM may not be the instant classic that CASINO ROYALE was, but it's 106 minutes of entertainment that ends up being a pretty damn respectable piece of cinema. And if for some reason there was any doubt about Daniel Craig after his first run as Bond, QUANTUM puts all of that to rest. Craig is now the definitive Bond, a picture-perfect embodiment of the cool yet at times emotionally tender 00 that puts sissy-boys like Pierce Brosnan to shame. Although QUANTUM might be a little too jumpy and favorable to action, the execution of the meaty stuff is where the film earns its stripes.

And fear not moviegoers. You get your own solace from this film as well. QUANTUM has not only darn-near finished the story arc from CASINO ROYALE, but also finds that Bond ends the film on a particularly convincing developmental note, highlighted in metaphor as the iconic gunbarrel sequence draws the curtains on a James Bond flick that has brought the character arc started in CASINO ROYALE full-circle. Bond has his quantum of solace and it looks as if he is well on his way to becoming the slick secret agent that we all know and love. And as the credits foresee, James Bond Will Return, and interested I shall be.



Welp, that's probably going to be about it for '08, though Will Smith's new film SEVEN POUNDS does look kinda promising. WALL-E is coming on Tuesday so I'm sure I'll be spending my week enjoying that on Blu-Ray. Until then, sayonara!