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11/13/2008 - West Side Leader
     

By Craig Marks

Daniel Craig is James Bond and Gemma Arterton is Strawberry Fields in “Quantum of Solace.”

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

There was a time, not so long ago, when spyware was not what you put on your computer to prevent annoying pop-up ads. It was the gear of secret agents, and no agent used the gadgets better than James Bond.

Bond is back in “Quantum of Solace,” a better-than-average entry in the long-running series. For the second time, Bond is played with no-nonsense gusto by Daniel Craig. If Craig’s Bond found a virus on his PC, he’d use his fists to beat it into submission.

But don’t look for 007 to be armed with pens that shoot bullets or deadly tie clips. That was yesterday’s Bond. Without cool gadgets, today’s Bond has to make do with his revolver, his sleek car, his unmatched fighting skills, his way with women, his wit, his — OK, you get the point. Even without the spyware, he’s not coming to the party empty handed.

One other thing Bond is carrying around — a heavy heart. In 2006’s “Casino Royale,” our hero lost his beloved Vesper Lynd, and her death is still weighing heavily on his mind. But Bond has little time to mourn, as we learn after the wild car-chase opener. There is a nefarious organization named Quantum that has infiltrated high levels of various governments, and Bond goes on the trail to catch the baddies.

We follow 007 and his associates from one locale to another, while American intelligence does its own thing on the periphery. In an acknowledgement to the ways of the modern world, an American agent opines to a cohort that democracies don’t always deal with leaders who are “nice guys.”

As always, Bond proves excellent at getting his man, though bringing back his quarry alive — so that they can be interrogated — is not his strong suit. His inability to leave suspects breathing does not endear him to his boss, M (Judi Dench). The scenes where Craig and Dench share the screen, throwing verbal darts at each other, are the best in the movie.

“Quantum” has some great action sequences and, in the suave but psychotic Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a pretty nifty villain. But the movie isn’t as compelling as “Royale.” Perhaps it’s because Greene’s scheme doesn’t set the world on fire, either figuratively or literally. (If it were shown on “60 Minutes,” it would probably be the second story, after the main exposé but before the musician profile.) Or maybe it’s because the requisite Bond beauties (Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton) make less of an impression than did Lynd (Eva Green) in “Royale.”

And, not to harp on the point, but couldn’t there have been a few gizmos? “Royale” at least had a high-tech glove-compartment defibrillator. But in “Quantum,” the coolest bit of technology is the computer display at headquarters, which seems modeled after the one John King used on CNN to show election results. Here’s hoping Bond gets some cool toys for Christmas.

The movie, which opens Nov. 14, is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content.

*** (out of four)

Craig Marks is a cartoonist and editorial, sports and entertainment writer for the West Side Leader.

     

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