Quantum of Solace
Nov. 20th, 2008 10:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stephbgHappy to report that Husband and I made it out this evening to the Swancon screening of Daniel Craig as Bond II: Quantum of Solace, with bonus ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mynxii squishes and smooches. It's very nice to be greeted with squeals of delight :-)
And to the film: it wasn't nearly as atrocious as I'd been led to believe. Even the theme song was not without merit.
I'd had advance warning that QoS didn't make much sense without a working knowledge of Casino Royale, so we swotted up on the plot and who-was-the-guy? stuff. Invaluable prep, for without that a great deal of QoS would make very little sense indeed. If it was on TV you'd get a "Previously, on ..." As it was I had to pay close attention and make a few guesses, but it was worth it for the surprising amount of subtlety buried in little comments in the screenplay. And the end would be a complete mystery without the backstory.
I'd also had advance warning that QoS was merely a series of set piece action sequences, lurching from point to point with very little point in between. Yes, there was a lot of that, and some awesomely bad direction and editing. I know it's an old person's complaint, but really, the cutting was so extreme that I had a definite sense of missing out. Money was being spent, and I didn't get to see it. Plenty of cartoon physics of the bad-guys'-bullets-are-strangely-ineffective variety, but I've no complaints there. Perhaps a smidgeon too much resiliance in the hotel fire, and hello? hazardous architecture full of explosives? Oh well, I've seen worse on Grand Designs.
Speaking of British TV, did anyone else have Top Gear flashes during the opening car chase? Can't you just see Jeremy Clarkson firing at Richard Hammond while racing sporty numbers through the Italian Alps? And doing about the same amount of damage? Not the Aston Martin!
Whether intended or not, I quite liked the backdrop of the Palio horse race in Siena in the beginning, intercut with the first major foot chase. The horses (spies) are chosen to represent the city wards (governments) by ballot. The same horse could race under different flags at different times. The horses are bareback, difficult to control, and often lose their jockeys, but that doesn't matter; the horse can win the race without its jockey. The race is also extremely hazardous to everyone. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but loyalties can change... Also, pretty horsies.
And Daniel Craig. Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. After CR I was bitterly disappointed, for I found the new Bond to be utterly unattractive. Wrong body type, unexpressive, no sense of humour or depth. I can do gritty, but flat is a problem. So, a pleasant surprise this time around, for the character was better fleshed, metaphorically speaking, and yet seemed to be physically leaner and generally more my type. He kept his clothes on, mostly, and the fleshy shots were much more flattering IMHO. So, sorry Husband but phwoar!
Also in advance I'd heard that the theme song was a disaster, but hadn't heard or noticed the music in promos. So, low expectations again. As Bond music, maybe not. They get points for attempting 60s elements in the arrangement with the brass, but it was an awkward marriage with a modern sound. Madonna did it better with Die Another Day (although the film was DIRE). As just a dance track, it wasn't that bad. I could gyrate to it, and in the grand scheme of things that's what really matters.
The bad guy worked well I thought; a bit unhinged, more than a little slimy, and yet with a perfectly sensible--albeit evil--plan to control water supplies or do whatever was required to make a bit o' cash.
I had no objection to the absense of gadgets. All the technology shown seeemed pretty unexceptional to me, but that was just fine, and formed a nice backdrop. I object to over-gadgeting in films, particularly when it's used as a distraction in lieu of script. This did not prevent me from feeling little inappapropriate thrills as I flicked switches and pressed buttons in the Catmobile on the trip home. So what if the button was for the rear demister? It was a button and it was fun to press.
So, I liked it much more than I was expecting it to, and the more I think about it, the more I like it.
mynxii squishes and smooches. It's very nice to be greeted with squeals of delight :-)And to the film: it wasn't nearly as atrocious as I'd been led to believe. Even the theme song was not without merit.
I'd had advance warning that QoS didn't make much sense without a working knowledge of Casino Royale, so we swotted up on the plot and who-was-the-guy? stuff. Invaluable prep, for without that a great deal of QoS would make very little sense indeed. If it was on TV you'd get a "Previously, on ..." As it was I had to pay close attention and make a few guesses, but it was worth it for the surprising amount of subtlety buried in little comments in the screenplay. And the end would be a complete mystery without the backstory.
I'd also had advance warning that QoS was merely a series of set piece action sequences, lurching from point to point with very little point in between. Yes, there was a lot of that, and some awesomely bad direction and editing. I know it's an old person's complaint, but really, the cutting was so extreme that I had a definite sense of missing out. Money was being spent, and I didn't get to see it. Plenty of cartoon physics of the bad-guys'-bullets-are-strangely-ineffective variety, but I've no complaints there. Perhaps a smidgeon too much resiliance in the hotel fire, and hello? hazardous architecture full of explosives? Oh well, I've seen worse on Grand Designs.
Speaking of British TV, did anyone else have Top Gear flashes during the opening car chase? Can't you just see Jeremy Clarkson firing at Richard Hammond while racing sporty numbers through the Italian Alps? And doing about the same amount of damage? Not the Aston Martin!
Whether intended or not, I quite liked the backdrop of the Palio horse race in Siena in the beginning, intercut with the first major foot chase. The horses (spies) are chosen to represent the city wards (governments) by ballot. The same horse could race under different flags at different times. The horses are bareback, difficult to control, and often lose their jockeys, but that doesn't matter; the horse can win the race without its jockey. The race is also extremely hazardous to everyone. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but loyalties can change... Also, pretty horsies.
And Daniel Craig. Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. After CR I was bitterly disappointed, for I found the new Bond to be utterly unattractive. Wrong body type, unexpressive, no sense of humour or depth. I can do gritty, but flat is a problem. So, a pleasant surprise this time around, for the character was better fleshed, metaphorically speaking, and yet seemed to be physically leaner and generally more my type. He kept his clothes on, mostly, and the fleshy shots were much more flattering IMHO. So, sorry Husband but phwoar!
Also in advance I'd heard that the theme song was a disaster, but hadn't heard or noticed the music in promos. So, low expectations again. As Bond music, maybe not. They get points for attempting 60s elements in the arrangement with the brass, but it was an awkward marriage with a modern sound. Madonna did it better with Die Another Day (although the film was DIRE). As just a dance track, it wasn't that bad. I could gyrate to it, and in the grand scheme of things that's what really matters.
The bad guy worked well I thought; a bit unhinged, more than a little slimy, and yet with a perfectly sensible--albeit evil--plan to control water supplies or do whatever was required to make a bit o' cash.
I had no objection to the absense of gadgets. All the technology shown seeemed pretty unexceptional to me, but that was just fine, and formed a nice backdrop. I object to over-gadgeting in films, particularly when it's used as a distraction in lieu of script. This did not prevent me from feeling little inappapropriate thrills as I flicked switches and pressed buttons in the Catmobile on the trip home. So what if the button was for the rear demister? It was a button and it was fun to press.
So, I liked it much more than I was expecting it to, and the more I think about it, the more I like it.
