The Something of Boris...

What is my fascination with ellipses? I don't know, but maybe that's part of why I loved Casino Royale.

James Bond movies have always been mediocre entertainment. But, with the previously mentioned entry (number 21) the bar has been raised. Bond displayed genuine emotions. He fell in love. He abhorred his job. He was gadgetless, punless, and as a direct result, anything but brainless.

Those who complain that the next film needs to return to the Bond we know, have forgotten everything they said about the Bond we know, mainly that he needed to stop visiting the big screen altogether. The paradigm has shifted permanently, unlike previous attempts at rebooting the series, the changes here go deeper than just adding a touch of realism by eliminating the more fantastic elements of the franchise.

Bond has become something akin to Jason Bourne no doubt. But to be fair, he was something akin to Jason Bourne thirty years before Jason Bourne ever existed. Bond's character in the novels never had a helicopter that unfolded out of a suitcase (or several suitcases to be technically correct), a jetpack, or any type of laser emitting wristwatch.

The Bond of the books is just what we're seeing now, detached and cold, showing moments of humanity in dire situations and rarely getting laid.

Is it refreshing? For most people probably not, but as a reader of Bond first, I'd have to say the new direction has me completely satisfied.

The sequel to Casino Royale, granted, has a crummy title. Search for The Something of Boris on youtube to find a pretty funny alternate opening song, critiquing the incomprehensibility of Quantum of Solace, I was unable to find a funny song about the difficulties of long words like "incomprehensibility" or "critiquing" maybe someone can research that for me?

Sorry, that paragraph said nothing. The new 007 flick is flawed, but the flaws are technical and fortunately, unable to sink the rest of the movie. The action set pieces here are ruined by poor editing (by poor I mean confusing, Michael Bay style cutting from shot to shot).

However, a few smaller action segments stand out if you really need the action, and the opera house scene is probably one of the best Bond moments in the entirety of this long-running franchise's bloated catalog. I read somebody calling it "Kubrickian" to which I instantly thought, shut up, but it turns out I'd have to agree. That scene validates the price of admission by itself. Unfortunately the action sequence immediately following can't maintain the same impression and the moment fades. But would great moments stand out if they were surrounded by equally great moments?

The filmmaker's throw in an excellent homage to Bond's cinematic history at the start of the final act, another great moment feeling smothered by another weak action sequence.

The strength of this film that outweighs all other detractions is Daniel Craig. Is he cold? Yes, but if you forget to watch the scenes where he's not, you'll miss out on the fact that he's still human, and not a caricature like his past incarnations. Is he indestructible? Somewhat, but he takes a beating and seems to just be trying to survive, granted with more success than logic would usually permit.

Craig is an actor of higher caliber than anyone who preceded him (with the possible exception of Connery, though his scripts never asked of him what Paul Haggis is asking of Craig) and he does everything perfectly. There were a few scenes in Casino Royale where he seemed awkward, he's nearly perfect this time around.

The bottom line is The Whatsit of Something is better entertainment than anything brought to the big screen since The Dark Knight. Despite the director's inability to present jaw-dropping action sequences, Daniel Craig's performance and several great moments make this film much more good than bad. Quantum of Solace is a rough, but a rough with many gems encrusted in it.