In my recent review of Quantum of Solace, I worried that I was being overly critical when I called the film "a mediocre addition to the Bond mythos" or when I declared "the most disappointing movie of the year." But after reading Robert Wilonsky’s review in City Pages, I realized I wasn’t critical enough.
| Quote: |
| At 106 minutes, it’s the shortest of the Bond films, but it feels like one of the longest as it bounces hither and yon only to wind up stranded in a Bolivian desert, where baddie Dominic Greene (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly‘s Mathieu Amalric) is sucking the sand dry of its underwater river. Yawn. Used to be, Bond villains were larger-than-life Evil Geniuses who at least had Grand Aspirations to take over the world, bwah-haw-haw; now, the bad guy’s just a phony environmentalist with a thing for deposed dictators and dry wells. |
And you know what? He’s right on. I should have been far more critical but I allowed my love for Bond and Casino Royale to unduly influence the review. I soft pedaled it.
Some more spot on critiques courtesy of Wilonsky:
"Quantum is a spastic, indecipherable, unholy, and altogether unwatchable mess."
"[It is as though they] filmed Quantum on a roller coaster and cut the movie with a food processor set on ‘unintelligible.’"
"[T]here’s no need to worry about where Quantum of Solace fits in the Bond pantheon—it’s easily one of the worst."
Ouch.
While I realize this will fall on deaf ears, wait for the video. Stay home… read a book.. play some games… do whatever else and save your hard earned money. Quantum promises nothing but disappointment.