Quantum of Solace (2008)
2nd Viewing
I didn’t have time to watch Casino Royale (2006) today in my Daniel Craig Bond marathon, plus it’s such a memorable action movie that I didn’t see a need to rewatch it anyways like the following three 007 movies that have sort of left my memory over the years.
Oilfinger is an absolute technical failure of an action thriller. I don’t know whose decision it was to link so many random events to the rhythm of the main action; you’re not avant-garde, movie; David Harbour literally plays one of the CIA’s top members in this. It doesn’t help too that the movie has this misplaced urge for attempting really cringy humor in the midst of its supposedly “serious” spy thriller narrative too – now Mathieu Amalric doing battle cries while fighting: that’s funny. The script has a pretty horrid and prematurely quick sense of character relations and elevating dynamics too, which is about the last straw that this movie should’ve just not snatched to be at least somewhat passable. Shoutout to the pathetic “I can’t trust anyone” and “oh no, I work for an organization that does corrupt things from time to time” dramatic stakes on top of that; I’m not here for this, writers.
Good for Olga though. Girlboss.
Verdict: D+
“Quantum of Solace” is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.
Skyfall (2012)
?? Viewing
The parts where Bond excavates over VW Beetles on a moving train, uses a komodo dragon as a jump stool, that ICONIC ADELE OPENING, and when we get to the highlight of a halfway point where Javier Bardem’s character barges in with his horny-ass betrayal energy and absolutely iconic lines are part of the reason for what make this movie salvageable to me. Roger Deakins is also great at making movies look really pretty and all, but yeah… Skyfall’s plot is often questionable and most of its character revelations are way too been there done that as well for me to think of this film as some high bar entry — there is so much more exploration that could be done with the 007 and M dynamic to compliment the alluring villain at hand. It’s still quite fun to watch though thanks to Sam Mendes’s competent action-based and quippy direction that was desperately needed after the dud that is Quantum of Solace (2008).
And in all fairness, this was the first 007 movie I ever saw, so my on-the-cuffs positive opinion on this movie is probably “based”. Or maybe not?
Verdict: B-
“Skyfall” is now available to stream on Hulu.
Spectre (2015)
2nd Viewing
I don’t know? It has that same competent action-based and quippy direction as Skyfall (2012) which I mentioned before, but paired with that same kind of uninteresting, far-fetched, and bleak story and romantic interest or general character-based relational writing as Quantum of Solace (2008) — the “mastermind all along” cliché is warring for this genre, I tell ya! I couldn’t care less too about Spectre’s homages to Dr. No (1962) and more notably From Russia With Love (1963), considering it tries to balance them with the classic Craig formula in such an indecisive manner.
At least I got to see Christoph Waltz talk about meteors for a minute; that was something? But then that joke of a climax and finale happens after it. The first half of this movie is like Skyfall really when compared to its atrocious second half, which I’d go as far as to say is inferior to even Quantum of Solace’s second half. I know, yikes.
Verdict: D+
“Spectre” is now available to rent on Amazon Prime.
Burning the Celluloid 
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