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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Where does ‘Quantum’ fall in the Bond canon?
Well, well. Seems my regretful pan of Quantum of Solace has raised some hackles among commenters.
“Sam” said that the action was “REAL speed.” (Maybe it was, but it would have been nice if I could tell who was who.) A “Jason” tells me it was better than some movie I was supposed to have made, and a “Kevin” tells me I flat out suck. Oh well. Ce’st la vie.
Maybe I’m reflecting my feelings that the film was lacking, but I get the distinct sense Quantum has not gone over with audiences all that well. Sure, it made $67.5 million, but that had NOTHING to do with how much people liked Quantum and EVERYTHING to do with how much people liked the vastly superior Casino Royale.
With box office, the second week always tells the real story. And I believe Bond is going to get drop-kicked by both Bolt and Twilight this week, and the movie will be out of first-run theaters by the time it becomes 2009.
All around movie blogs I read, I’ve been seeing comments like “It’s as though they were having a contest to see how short a shot they could put on screen … To paraphrase one of my buddies who I saw it with, it’s one of the shortest Bonds but it felt like one of the longest. And not in a good way.”
Even more tellingly, it received a not-too-good grade of B- from Cinemascore, which polls opening night audiences, who are usually pretty generous.
Even the title sequence was disappointing - it looked like Bond was trekking through a series of Journey album covers. It was nowhere near the standard set by Daniel Kleinman, who’d done the titles from Goldeneye through Casino Royale - the last being especially brilliant.
Believe me, I take no pleasure, or solace even, in reporting this. James Bond is my favorite movie series of all time, and I had been anticipating Quantum of Solace more than any other film this year. It’s not a bad movie, but it left me severely wanting, especially after Casino Royale had been one of the best Bonds in ages.
Here’s where I think it falls among other Bond films (listed chronologically within the categories):
Indisputable classics
From Russia with Love
Goldfinger
Great, if not ideal
Dr. No
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The Spy Who Loved Me
For Your Eyes Only
The Living Daylights
Goldeneye
Casino Royale
Not great, but very entertaining
Thunderball
Diamonds Are Forever
Live and Let Die
Octopussy
Licence to Kill
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World is Not Enough
Die Another Day
Not bad, but lacking
Never Say Never Again
You Only Live Twice
Quantum of Solace
Mediocrity abounds
The Man with the Golden Gun
Moonraker
Ptooey
A View to a Kill
How do you think Quantum compares to other Bond flicks?
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