Quantum theories

Quantum Of Solace

This sequel to ‘franchise reboot’ Casino Royale is just average entertainment, really... Honestly, I was disappointed, yet again, that such OTT-editing of action sequences is nowadays considered ‘good’ film-making technique or artistry. How can such a blurry blitz of snapshots and multi-angle close-ups (more like a slide-show than moving images!), and obviously CGI-enhanced background scenery be any kind of worthwhile replacement for convincing stunt-work? Where’s the real drama in the hero’s brisk and frequently brutish slaughter of valueless villains? I thought all the main characters seemed to be nothing more than circumstantial props (now, even M talks of Bond as if he’s a useful gadget, not a charismatic rogue agent), juggled by 007’s producers and director (Marc Forster), while annoying inter-cutting of racing with a rooftop chase, and staged opera with back-stage fighting, prove too boringly arty-farty, and distracting from the principal action, as if designed to hide gaps in story logic, and conceal the ridiculously fanciful situations in a supposedly more realistic kind of adventure than the previous outings. Now that our new James Bond is so clearly imitating Jason Bourne (himself merely a blatant 007 clone, despite amnesic twists), that his Cold War screen-presence has become a tragic parody of former glories, perhaps the ultimate British super-spy’s forcible retirement is long overdue?