MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES: Quantum of Solace

I was finally able to catch Quantum last night, as I'd been dying to see it since it hit, but my wife's not big on going to movies, and my Mom had actually mentioned wanting to see it, but it turns out my Dad and wife not so much. So with the holidays and everything, it took a bit to get on the same page, as I absolutely had to see this in the theater, so my mom and I went last night... probably not your typical Bond ticket buying demographic ;)

So, how was the movie?
Was it worth the wait?
And what did mom think?

Quantum of Solace kicks ass.

Casino Royale? An appetizer, a slow burn origin to this new, lean, mean, ass kicking machine that is an utterly modern spin on the shoe worn franchise, wholly unleashed from the opening frame, clear up to the final, where perhaps we catch a glimpse of evolution and resolution. And just as Casino takes us directly to the start of Quantum, most likely this latest chapter does to the next. Because it’s not just James Bond the character who’s been totally reworked, and the world he exists in, but also the framework of the franchise, to include an ongoing, over arcing story. One that, frankly, seems asinine to not have existed before… we all follow her majesty’s secret agent from film to film, over decades, but we’ve never been acknowledged in doing so, not to any great extent. This new spin finally takes that into consideration, not only giving us a fresh start, new approach, and origin, but an ongoing story, unfolding in layers.

Quantum peels back the next layer, and starts to get at what, and who was behind the tragedy that befell our superhuman spy the last time out, and while it resolves some of that, it also unfolds more layers and points to a much larger tale afoot. It’s simply great storytelling, and when it’s coupled with even smarter set pieces, increased pace, an amazing character growing before our eyes, all with fantastic acting, production, and direction, Quantum of Solace maintains Casino’s momentum, accelerates it, and slings you into the much anticipated next chapter of Daniel Craig’s Bond franchise.

And for those that find it doesn’t carry enough of the elements we've come to expect from Bond films, i.e. the gadgets, girls, and goons, I’m not among them. I thought, just as with Casino, there were a ton of techie tools in play, and next gen gadgets that are either already in use, or believably could be. And while both films feature new, stronger female counterparts, and more grounded villains, this Bond still has plenty of game with the ladies, and I think we’ll get bigger villains as the story progresses. And there are plenty of nods to cannon along the way, in scenes like the one when Bond escapes MI6 at the hotel but meets up with M in classic Bond profile, or when a woman turns up dead on a bead in that same hotel, covered head to toe in oil (as opposed to gold).

My only complaint, as with the first, is the tricky balancing act of a James Bond franchise that very much lives in an ultra real world setting, it can some times be too over the top, in contrast with it’s grounded nature. Although, my qualms with this in Quantum are much better than with Casino’s ridiculous set driven Venetian villa collapse climax. So, as with Casino, it’s not perfect, but it’s damn close!

I absolutely loved Quantum, it is an exhilarating, gorgeous, and dangerous next level of Bond storytelling!!

Oh, and mom loved it too :)

SDCC 08 update 1 - Wednesday/Thursday

Here's a quick update from San Diego Comic-Con 2008...
wish you were here dear readers!

This first update is all the best booth stuff I could fit on my old pig of a digital camera.

First up we have the new Bond car with a cool ginormous Craig/Bond banner
Then we have a life size prop from the big upcoming Watchmen, that is so cool, the Nite Owl's ship... it even has a full interior too!And yes, if you're at the show, you too can win a Nerd Herd mobile (from Chuck, I love that show!)Apparantly the truly awesome Feast, the recent Project Greenlight winning monster horror flick that's Tremors meets Tarantino, has a sequel coming (cool!) and this is one of the creatures!!!
Lost Boys are back all of a sudden 21 years later, and have this RV setup at the con... Probably Corey's Feldmen's home, just parked in the booth space...Lots of Transformers stuff at one of the toy booths (Hasbro?)... a cool giant logo, 8' stands of the cartoon Optimus and Bumblebee, and I think this last thing was from Transformers? Anyone?
Hasbro (again I think) also had some cook action figure displays, they had a big diorama featuring scenes from all 4 Indy films, this was the Raiders... and a cool Cloverfield display complete with NYC carnage and copters!Iron Man is also everywhere, here's a cool life size movie armor!! (wouldn't it be cool if you could wear it? just think of the lines for that, the Iron Man experience)... and also the mark 1 armor...He-Man fanatics rejoice... a life size bronze statue of the man of he, and life size Grayskull!!!As always, lots of cool Star Wars stuff... here's a life size AhsokaThat's all I could fit on the ol memory card, tune in tomorrow for more, and hopefully some friendly faces...