Eternals

ETERNALS
2021 | Dir. Chloé Zhao | 156 Minutes

"When you love something, you protect it. It's the most natural thing in the world."

An all-powerful cosmic entity sends ten immortal beings to planet Earth to protect the human race from ancient monstrous extraterrestrial beasts. Thousands of years later, the ten learn the true nature of their mission, forcing each one to choose between fulfilling their intended purpose or preventing the mass extinction of the people they have grown to love.

Chloé Zhao's Eternals features a massive scale story spanning thousands of years, breathtaking visuals photographed with natural lighting at real physical locations, and a diverse ensemble cast embodying an entire spectrum of incredible talent. While all of this sounds amazing on paper, and Zhao clearly demonstrates total commitment to the project judging by the technical merits of the feature, astoundingly the end product is a bit of a convoluted mixed bag that is sometimes a chore to sit through. Essentially establishing a brand new quadrant of the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the ground up with only the most tangential of connections to previous films, the feature's ambition is nothing short of admirable. However, the exposition required to introduce an entire set of brand new characters and concepts all at once is absolutely overbearing, greatly hampering the pacing of the film as it choppily jumps back and forth from ancient past to present day to deliver sometimes confounding world-building and character moments that are serviceable at best and somewhat dull at worst. Perhaps the largest issue is that the story lacks anything resembling a meaningful emotional core despite taking great lengths to sell the troubled romance of its two primary lead characters Sersi and Ikaris. Thematically, Eternals pits the notions of driving purpose and faith in a greater design against free will and profound compassion, which is an intellectually stimulating conflict in its presentation but never quite succeeds in eliciting a visceral response of any kind.

Eternals is a stunning picture to behold for sure, a welcome departure from Marvel Studios' sometimes rote standard visual style, presenting numerous striking exterior locations bathed in natural light. The scale of the action sequences are awe-inspiring, the superpowers wielded by the film's lead characters are visualized and realized in ingenious ways. Sersi's ability to transmute inanimate materials, Makkari's super speeed, and Thena's energy blades are particularly impressive. The visual effects are reliably appealing for most part, but the creature designs for the Deviants leave much to be desired, every single one including the lead Deviant looking like nothing more than an ugly digital mess of haphazard limbs and appendages.

As Sersi, Gemma Chan delivers the most sympathetic performance of the large cast, convincing in the role of a kind-hearted caretaker reluctantly inheriting on the mantle of leadership. Richard Madden as generally fine as the broody conflicted eye beam shooting Ikaris, his performance perhaps limited the script. While Lia McHugh is compelling as the embittered perennially youthful Sprite, doing a decent job conveying the character's weariness, the role is unfortunately pretty one-note overall. Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo is the life of the party, injecting the picture with a boost of energy and much-needed levity, though he is noticeably absent for the entire final act of the film. Angelina Jolie serves up the most exciting action of the group as the energy blade slinging Thena even as the character's thinly drawn arc of managing a certain level of metaphysical mental illness is woefully underserved. Don Lee's hard-hitting Gilgamesh serves mostly as a supporting role to Jolie though he at least has some of the best lines. Barry Keoghan exudes pure menace as the mind-controlling Druig, the first to question the Eternals mission on Earth, easily the most fascinating player of the group despite his limited rather screen time. Brian Tyree Henry is simply lovable as the enthusiastic herald of technology Phastos and quite believable as a mild-tempered family man. Lauren Ridloff is a real joy as Makkari, and the film doesn't give her nearly enough to do. Though her role amounts to what is essentially an extended cameo, Salma Hayek is a natural fit as team leader Ajak, emitting a regal and unconditionally affectionate presence. Kit Harington appears very briefly as Sersi's boyfriend Dane Whitman, amusing enough as the odd man out, while Harish Patel is truly hilarious as is Kingo's sidekick Karun.

Eternals is undeniably the first significant stumble for Marvel Studios in years. Despite the considerable breadth of talent in front of and behind the camera, its meandering pacing and leaden exposition very nearly undermine all that is fascinating, unique, and daring about the film. It is a frustratingly flawed introduction to a set of incredibly likable characters struggling with faith and free will. With any luck, Sersi and company will be involved in more engaging adventures in their next appearance.

MID-CREDITS STINGER
Onboard their spaceship, Thena, Makkari, and Druig grow concerned as they have lost communication with their companions on Earth. Before they are able to turn back, Pip the Troll (Patton Oswalt) and Thanos' brother Eros (Harry Styles) unexpectedly appear before them.

POST-CREDITS STINGER
Dane Whitman examines an ancient family heirloom, a black sword with a foreboding enchantment, hesitating to lay a finger on it. As Whitman approaches the blade, he is interrupted by an unseen character who questions his resolve.

FRAGMENTS
- Gemma Chan previously appeared in Captain Marvel as the villainous Kree sniper Minn-Erva

- The needle-drop of Pink Floyd's "Time" leading into the Marvel Studios logo took me by surprise in the best way

- Super amusing to see Game of Thrones alums Richard Madden and Kit Harrington as romantic rivals though they only share one scene together in this film

- I've loved Kumail Nanjiani as a comedian and podcast personality for years so it's truly thrilling for me to see him in the MCU

- My first exposure to Don Lee was his fantastic performance in the seminal zombie film Train to Busan

- The direct references to DC Comics' Batman and Superman in the dialogue aren't all that jarring to me, though the notion Marvel Comics' de facto rival exists as a media company within the MCU is more than a little bonkers

- I was honestly a little shocked that Richard Madden's Ikaris turns heel instead of Barry Keoghan's Druig given Keoghan's tendency to play shifty characters and Druig's incredibly creepy super power

SUPPLEMENTAL STUFF
- Video: Lexus and Marvel Studios' Eternals present | PARKING SPOT

No Time To Die

NO TIME TO DIE
2021 | Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga | 163 Minutes

"We both eradicate people to make the world a better place. I just want it to be... tidier."

When a scientist developing a potentially apocalyptic virus is abducted from a secret MI6 lab, Felix Leiter convinces James Bond to come out of retirement. Facing the abandoned love of his life and an MI6 that has decidedly moved on without him, Bond is tasked with saving the world from the whims of a delusional mad man one last time.

Cary Joji Fukunaga's No Time To Die is an unprecedented James Bond film in a multitude of ways. Save for a brief, jaunty excursion to Cuba where Bond partners with a gorgeous and extremely competent junior CIA agent, Fukunaga's picture trades nearly every last shred of the carefree escapist adventure that defines much of the Eon Productions' flagship franchise for a poignant tale of high stakes espionage that sheds all of the glamour from the life of the premier debonair superspy. Daniel Craig's final outing as Bond brings the character arc of his unique take on the British agent to its natural conclusion, one that's equally tragic and heroic. True to the rougher, more grounded characterization of Craig's Bond introduced in Casino Royale, this significantly flawed, deeply emotional modern version of Ian Fleming's unapologetically hard drinking, womanizing hero was never going to simply ride off to a seemingly happy ending with a beautiful woman in his vintage Aston Martin DB5 as depicted in the final moments of Spectre. Poetically, Bond lives a life beset by distrust and death, and in this grand finale, he finds that he has no choice but to make the ultimate sacrifice to preserve new life in the name of love and duty. While intellectually stimulating, whether or not this all works as a film is absolutely up for debate. The serialized nature of Craig's tenure as 007 necessitates this final installment to address and conclude various storylines introduced in previous films, particularly the ones centered on Blofeld and Madeleine Swann returning from Spectre, requiring audiences to have a working knowledge of this Bond's previous adventures and inflating the length of the picture to nearly three unwieldy hours. Luckily, No Time To Die is as slick and objectively entertaining as most of the better films in the series.

Photographed with real panache by Swedish cinematographer Linus Sandgren, the action sequences featured in No Time To Die are plentiful and thoroughly thrilling. The extended opening act in Matera is stunning, going out of its way to deliver Daniel Craig's best car chase as Bond. The shoot-out at SPECTRE's hidden-in-plain-sight Cuban club is amusing, particularly as Ana de Armas' Palmoa shows off her considerable skills while sharing delightful banter with Craig's Bond. The battle in the Norwegian forest that leads into the final act of the picture is one the most visceral sequences in Craig's tenure only to be blown away towards the end of the film by a nerve-racking one-take gun fight in supervillain Safin's island lair.

The film's score by the ever-prolific Hans Zimmer packs a few pleasant surprises. Delivering all of the customary bombast of Zimmer's trademark style, it references David Arnold's theme for Vesper Lynd from Casino Royale in one key moment and, more astoundingly, majestic renditions of John Barry's theme for On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Louis Armstrong's "We Have All The Time In The World" (with the original song in all its glory playing at one point during the end credits), thematically bridging that devastatingly fatalistic Bond film effectively with this one.

Unlike some of the lackluster final performances from other prominent James Bond actors, for his last appearance in the role, the fully-committed Daniel Craig clearly gives it his all. Both physically and emotionally intense as ever, Craig makes exits the role with an impressively strong and versatile performance, bringing humor, rage, joy and, ultimately, an unshakable sense of resignation. Returning to the previously underdeveloped role of Madeleine Swann, Léa Seydoux also gives a praiseworthy nuanced performance, this time with arc as a woman harboring painful secrets in love with a man who seems incapable of trust. As the visually striking antagonist Lyutsifer Safin, Rami Malek is utterly fascinating despite the character's criminally limited screen time. As Nomi, the current the 007, Lashana Lynch is boundlessly charismatic and absolutely convincing as a take on the seductive, deadly, no-nonsense secret agent that somehow feels cut from the classic mold but also new and fresh at the same time. Returning players Jeffrey Wright, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, and Christoph Waltz respectively reprising the roles of Leiter, M, Moneypenney, Q, Tanner, and Blofeld make up a stacked, absurdly talented supporting cast that's further bolstered by Ana de Armas in what amounts to an extended by memorable cameo appearance as the Cuban CIA agent Paloma, French-Algerian actor Dali Benssalah making for a formidable recurring foe as Primo, Billy Magnussen appropriately obnoxious as the insufferably cheery Logan Ash, David Dencik as persistent cockroach of a scientist Valdo Obruchev, and young Lisa-Dorah Sonnet playing the secret emotional core of the story.

Emotionally exhausting but reasonably satisfying, No Time To Die gives Daniel Craig's iteration of James Bond a proper definitive ending for better or worse. Unlike any Bond picture before it, this installment provides resounding closure for the iconic secret agent and all of the pathos that comes with an ending of this nature. By no means for the uninitiated, longtime Bond series fans should find a lot to love about this one if they are willing to embrace the sometimes questionable serialized format of Craig's 007 films and if they can spare nearly three hours to indulge in the picture's extended run time.

THE COLD OPEN
The longest pre-credits sequence for any Bond film, Madeleine Swann's origin story (extrapolated from a few lines of dialogue in Spectre) and the lengthy prologue in Matera that culminates with a stunning action sequence more in line with a standard Bond cold open are separately engaging but the pacing of the film perhaps could have benefited from the Madeleine's backstory being moved to later in the film or cut entirely.

THE THEME SONG AND OPENING TITLES
Billie Eilish's "No Time To Die" is a stirring, mournful ballad that fits Craig's Bond perfectly, effectively conveying his inability to trust and to love. Daniel Kleinman's title sequence itself starts with a nod to the Dr. No opening titles with neat now-retro circle graphics, eventually shifting to stylized imagery touting a clock motif that prove to be competent but not particularly memorable considering Kleinman's past work on the series.

THE BOND GIRL
A first for the series, Dr. Madeleine Swann returns as the primary love interest though her presence is absolutely welcome and proves to be essential. Madeleine receives the characterization she deserved but was not afforded in Spectre, this time totally convincing as the woman with the potential to change Bond's life. Her key revelation late in the film truly changes everything, in turn revealing a more tender side of Bond never before seen. In another film Paloma perhaps would have been the Bond girl but spending more time with Madeleine and exploring what makes her tick certainly works out for the best.

THE BOND VILLAIN
Lyutsifer Safin ticks all of the boxes of the Bond villain checklist. Unusual physical deformity, diabolical homicidal scheme, mostly impractical secret lair, utterly ridiculous name. Unfortunately, besides serving as an obstacle in Bond's way, one final enemy to deal with, there isn't much to his character besides a vendetta against SPECTRE, a mad scheme to "cleanse the world," and an obsession with Madeleine. He perhaps would have been more impressive if he had a larger "poison garden."

FEATURED HENCHMAN
Primo with his prosthetic eye isn't the most memorable henchman but he certainly is one of the most tenacious. From the moment he takes off his shades in the cold open to his epic death punctuated with Craig's final Bond one-liner, Primo and his crazy eyes simply refused to go down until he was truly dead.

BEST GADGET
Not a Bond gadget from Q branch but the elaborate portable magnet system Safin's henchmen use when abducting Obruchev is quite nifty.

FLEMING FIDELITY
Safin's "poison garden" is a reworking of Blofeld's "Garden of Death" from Ian Fleming's 1964 James Bond novel You Only Live Twice. In the novel, Bond infiltrates the garden where suicidal people go to die in order to face Blofeld one last time. In the same novel, Bond strangles Blofeld to death, similar to how Blofeld meets his demise in this film.

FRAGMENTS
- Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas previously appeared together in Rian Johnson's Knives Out

- During the film's last act, Ralph Fiennes's M sits by portraits of previous incarnations of M played by Robert Brown and Judy Dench

- At the bottom of the end credits, the film advertises that "James Bond Will Return"


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Lashana Lynch (Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and The Marvels)

Spectre

SPECTRE
2015 | Dir. Sam Mendes | 148 Minutes

"You're a kite dancing in a hurricane, Mr. Bond."

James Bond follows up on a lead left behind by the late M and discovers a sinister secret organization. In order to locate and confront the evil mastermind, Bond must protect the daughter of a past enemy. Meanwhile, the future of MI6 is threatened by the arrogant head of the Joint Intelligence Service.

Directly following Skyfall, Sam Mendes' Spectre is a decidedly less daring, less engaging picture by comparison. Constructing a cohesive continuity within Daniel Craig's James Bond films is an intriguing idea but the culmination of the ongoing story in Spectre leaves much to be desired. The return of the ultimate Bond nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld is disappointingly mishandled as the screenwriters predictably cast Blofeld in the role of puppet master behind the primary antagonists from the last three films while needlessly giving him a personal motivation for specifically targeting Bond that borders on nonsensical. The side plot that once again questions MI6's place in the modern world would have been interesting, if somewhat redundant, had it not been completely undercut by the fact the dissenting voice this time around is SPECTRE in disguise.

Visually, Spectre is a dark and flat picture. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema makes the stylistic choice to frame the picture dead center on the subject for the majority of his shots, burning out all sense of drama from any given scene. The secret meeting in Rome is a prime example, quickly coming across as more of an eye-straining slog than a tense and unpredictable sequence.

With the exception of the excellent cold open set in Mexico City, the action scenes are fine if somewhat standard. Highlights include a nighttime car chase in Rome with a few comedic flourishes that would have been fitting in the Roger Moore era, an elaborate destructive pursuit sequence in the Austrian Alps, and an intense brawl between Bond and gigantic strongman Mr. Hinx onboard a train. The climatic action sequence in the bombed out remains of the former MI6 headquarters is disappointingly rote and uninspired, amounting to Bond being presented with an impossible choice that quickly proves to be far from impossible.

Daniel Craig confidently takes on the role of James Bond for the fourth time and he remains consistently great in the part even if the writing is noticeably weak for this installment. As love interest Madeleine Swann, Léa Seydoux is convincingly headstrong and subtly vulnerable, exhibiting a deep-seated world-weariness that is difficult to quantify. Craig and Seydoux are excellent performers but they share very little on screen chemistry and the romance at the core of the picture simply doesn't work. Though the script doesn't do him any favors, casting Christoph Waltz in the role of Ernst Stavro Blofeld is an inspired choice and he makes the most of the hand he was dealt, demonstrating a believably menacing intelligence in spite of the absurdity of the material. The film also features Dave Bautista delivering a fun performance as the skillful sadistic brute Mr. Hinx, Andrew Scott appropriately irritating as Joint Intelligence Service head Max Denbigh, and Monica Bellucci as the tormented widow of a SPECTRE operative. Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, and Rory Kinnear return as M, Moneypenny, Q, and Bill Tanner, each with a bit more to do than in Skyfall, while Jesper Christensen delivers a brief but harrowing performance reprising the role of Mr. White. A welcome sight, Judi Dench also makes a cameo appearance as the former M.

While it is ostensibly a competently constructed action film, Spectre falls well below the high standard set by Skyfall. The picture ties together all of Daniel Craig's James Bond films a little too neatly, not quite cleverly, and the major plot revelations it offers fall completely flat. It isn't necessarily one of the worst Bond pictures but frustratingly it could have been a much better installment considering how it has all the right pieces.


THE COLD OPEN
The elaborate Mexico City Day of the Dead action sequence is truly excellent, really one of the best cold open sequences of the entire franchise. The helicopter stunt is a real show stopper. It's a gripping, well-paced action sequence that the rest of the picture fails to match.


THE THEME SONG AND OPENING TITLES
Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall" is overproduced and somewhat dull, a weepy dirge of a tune. Though it is arguably one of the weaker James Bond theme songs, it is the second song from the series to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song. However, Daniel Kleinman's opening title sequence is another winner, prominently featuring a foreboding octopus motif inspired by the SPECTRE insignia. The segment featuring a collage of eyes is chilling, while the segment with clips from past films is cheesy as hell.


THE BOND GIRL
Dr. Madeleine Swann is meant to be an ideal match for Bond, an intelligent and capable somewhat prickly woman who is no stranger to the violent world of her father Mr. White. Though she demonstrates that she can handle a gun and she saves Bond from certain death on more than one occasion, she is still relegated to the role of damsel in distress when she is first introduced and during the final act. Dr. Swann is last seen riding off with Bond in his Aston Martin at the end of the picture, Bond having chosen her over revenge and continued employment with MI6, but nothing suggests their relationship will last any longer than Bond's previous romances.


THE BOND VILLAIN
Reintroducing Blofeld as Bond's adoptive brother Franz Oberhauser, and tying his villainous origin to Bond childhood is an unfortunate mistake. This new Blofeld is motivated simply by murderous jealousy, committing patricide and taking on his mother's name simply because his father took a liking to Bond. While he has the trademark white Persian, the proclivity to place Bond in an impractical death trap only to have him escape, and even the disfiguring facial scar by the final act of the film, Blofeld's forced connection to Bond makes him far less intriguing than previous incarnations of the quintessential Bond villain.


FEATURED HENCHMAN
The massive taciturn Mr. Hinx is cut from the same mold as Oddjob and Jaws, a sadistic killer with a quirky gimmick - a set of metal thumb nails he uses to gouge out the eyes of a rival when he is first introduced. Hinx encounters Bond three times in the film, presented as a nigh indestructible opponent. Despite speaking only once - he curses just as he is dragged by the neck by a half dozen kegs out of the cargo door of a speeding train, he exudes a surprising amount of personality.


BEST GADGET
The exploding wristwatch is classic Bond movie trope put to excellent use in stopping another time-honored Bond movie trope: the impractical death trap.


FLEMING FIDELITY
The secret organization SPECTRE and its leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld were first introduced in Ian Fleming's eighth James Bond novel Thunderball first published in 1961. Hannes Oberhauser was introduced as Bond's childhood skiing instructor and father figure in Fleming's short story Octopussy first published in 1966.


MCCLORY'S SPECTRE
Written to be the first Bond film, author Ian Fleming collaborated with Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham on the initial screenplay for Thunderball. Losing faith in McClory's cinematic vision for Bond, Fleming repurposed the story and used it for his eighth Bond novel published in 1961. McClory and Whittingham sued Fleming, and the case was settled out of court resulting in McClory gaining the literary and film rights for the screenplay. McClory is credited as a producer for Thunderball and eventually produced the awful 1983 Taliafilm remake Never Say Never Again featuring a spiteful Sean Connery as Bond. In 2013, MGM formally acquired the complete film rights for the concept of SPECTRE from the McClory estate as well as all of the characters associated with the organization, paving the way for Spectre to reincorporate the evil organization and Bond's arch-nemesis Blofeld into Eon Productions' James Bond film franchise.


FRAGMENTS
- Gary Oldman was approached for the role of Ernst Stavro Blofeld

- Christoph Waltz and Léa Seydoux previously appeared together in Inglourious Basterds

- Bond, Moneypenny, Tanner, and M meet in London at a safe house disguised as the business "Hildebrand Prints & Rarities", an homage to the Ian Fleming's short story The Hildebrand Rarity first published in Playboy magazine in March 1960

- At the bottom of the end credits, the film advertises that "James Bond Will Return"


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Dave Bautista (Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

Skyfall

SKYFALL
2012 | Dir. Sam Mendes | 143 Minutes

"Some men are coming to kill us. We're going to kill them first."

Missing and presumed dead after a failed mission, a weary James Bond returns to service in response to a devastating attack on MI6 headquarters. Unhinged former MI6 agent Raoul Silva seeks revenge against M for disavowing and leaving him for dead years ago. To counter Silva's ruthless tactics, Bond must utilize unconventional methods to protect M.

Sam Mendes' Skyfall is a contemplative, stylish, atmospheric, and visually stunning James Bond film, a nearly flawless film in virtually every level. Between every death-defying confrontation, the narrative directly questions the value of Bond's loyalty to M and the service, the toll Bond's violent work takes on his physical and psychological health, and the relevance of MI6 and necessity for its continued existence in the modern world. Impressively,  the movie also manages to honor the franchise's long history by reintroducing and simultaneously reinventing several of the series' key characters and tropes in innovative and unexpected ways.

While Skyfall is a thoughtful picture, it is also appropriately a fantastic action film with exciting stunt work and memorable set pieces. Courtesy of legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, every single frame of the picture is a sight to behold. The epic pre-credits chase sequence is among the best, and unlike so many lesser Bond films, it only gets better from that point - a stunning neon-lit fight to the death between Bond and an enemy operative in a Shanghai skyscraper, a thrilling foot chase in the London Underground leading to a suspenseful courtroom shootout, the explosive climatic battle pitting Bond, an elderly gamekeeper, and M against Silva and his army of hired killers at Bond's dilapidated ancestral home - nearly every action sequence is bolstered by escalating danger and elevated personal stakes, for once serving the plot instead of the other way around.

Daniel Craig is at his very best in his third appearance as James Bond, delivering a powerful quietly emotional performance as a jaded damaged action hero ravaged by time. In her final featured appearance as M, Judi Dench gives her very best performance in the role, completely embodying the nobility of a leader who refuses to retire while her past mistakes are running amok, ever willing to stand up for what's right in spite of any damage sustained by her reputation. The dynamic between Craig's Bond and Dench's M has never been stronger and it effectively carries the final act of the film. As the deranged Raoul Silva, Javier Bardem is both completely captivating and absolutely terrifying, believably portraying a twisted man who is capable of anything. Ola Rapace is convincingly brutal as Silva's gun for hire Patrice. Bérénice Marlohe is thanklessly tasked with playing Silva's doomed mistress Sévérine, a stock Bond film character type that makes an unfortunate return. Albert Finney amusingly portrays the cranky Scottish Skyfall estate gamekeeper Kincade. The film also features Rory Kinnear returning as as MI6 Chief of Staff Bill Tanner, Ralph Fiennes as Intelligence and Security Committee chairman Gareth Mallory, Naomie Harris as MI6 field agent Eve, and Ben Whishaw as a modern take on Q.

Skyfall is one of the very best pictures of Eon Productions' James Bond film series. Featuring a thoughtful plot that places dire stakes on the line for both 007 and MI6, the feature is as dramatically serious as a Bond picture can possibly be while it is also ranks among the franchise's most entertaining installments. The film impressively deconstructs and reconstructs the status quo of the series, honoring what came before with genuine reverence while paving the way for thrilling possibilities going forward.


THE COLD OPEN
The intense highly-destructive Istanbul chase sequence is simply riveting. The tonal balance is perfect in execution, from the broad humor of Bond pulverizing a trio of VW Beetles in an excavator to the high drama of M ordering Eve to take an impossible shot. The fact that Bond takes a bullet ending the mission in failure sets the stage for an emotionally unpredictable ride.


THE THEME SONG AND OPENING TITLES
Adele's "Skyfall" is at least as good as Shirley Bassey's best Bond theme songs. It's perhaps the best Bond theme song ever, the first Bond theme song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song, a soulful ballad with lyrics that gracefully thematically reference the plot of the film, rather than literally. Daniel Kleinman's fantastic opening titles once again break the tradition of flaunting seductive female figures, instead diving into Bond's psyche prominently featuring abstract representations of Bond's mortality and the titular abandoned family estate as well as sparing depictions of the female form.


THE BOND GIRL
The latest in a long line of women Bond fails to protect, Sévérine is perhaps best seen as a reminder of all those who came before and perhaps a plot point foreshadowing M's ultimate fate. Her tragic backstory as a sex slave just makes it even more depressing when Silva guns her down to demoralize Bond in a twisted meaningless game. In the end, she is woefully underwritten and indisputably the weakest aspect of the film.


THE BOND VILLAIN
While Bond villains conceived to be dark reflections of Bond have been done before, none have been quite as chilling or intriguing as Raoul Silva. M's favorite agent until he disobeyed her orders and she disavowed and abandoned him, his customary Bond villain physical deformity is rather grotesque, a severely mutilated mouth and face are concealed by a sophisticated prosthesis, the result of a failed suicide attempt by cyanide when he was captured by the enemy. Silva's scheme to expose the identities of every secret agent in the world is in actuality secondary to his plot to take M's life and to end his own. Eccentric, flamboyant, and sexually fluid, one of the most entertaining moments in the film is when hits on Bond with Bond responding in kind.


FEATURED HENCHMAN
Patrice doesn't have much of a personality to speak of but he makes for a formidable opponent in the cold open and in the spectacular Shanghai skyscraper fight. These two memorable sequences alone elevate Patrice's placement among the all-time great Bond henchmen.


BEST GADGET
The tricked out Aston Martin DB5 is as cool as it was in Goldfinger. M's quip about it being an uncomfortable ride is hilarious and Bond's response to its destruction during the climactic showdown with Silva's men is amusingly emotional.


FLEMING FIDELITY
Bond's Scottish heritage and his father's name, Andrew Bond, are sourced from Bond's obituary in Ian Fleming's eleventh James Bond novel You Only Live Twice first published in 1964. Sévérine's death scene is inspired by a similar moment depicted in Ian Fleming's twelfth and final James Bond novel The Man with the Golden Gun first published in 1965.


FRAGMENTS
- The role of Kincade was originally written with Sean Connery in mind but producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were unable to convince Connery to come out of retirement to make the surprise cameo appearance

- Following the gun barrel sequence, at the top of the end credits, the film advertises that "James Bond Will Return" below the logo commemorating the 50th anniversary Eon Productions' James Bond film franchise

Quantum of Solace

QUANTUM OF SOLACE
2008 | Dir. Marc Forster | 106 Minutes

"When you can't tell your friends from your enemies, it's time to go."

When a double agent within MI6 allows Mr. White to escape from custody, Bond discovers the traitor's connection to Dominic Greene, environmentalist entrepreneur and head of the nefarious secret organization Quantum. Greene plans to broker a deal with a corrupt general to seize control of the Bolivia's water supply. Bond partners with Bolivian agent Camille Montes, both driven by revenge against Greene and the general respectively.

While Marc Forster's Quantum of Solace is a direct sequel to Casino Royale, its opening moments occurring just minutes after the end of the previous film, the plot of the picture is woefully thin and underwritten. The narrative serves only to close out Bond's character arc established in the previous film instead of allotting him a fresh one, conceptually robbing the film of its ability to stand on its own. While the filmmakers provide Bond with a dramatic foil in the form of the vengeful Camille, the story doesn't have anything particularly interesting to say about revenge. The villains still end up dead while the heroes carry on without learning anything profound about the nature vengeance.

To make matters worse, as Quantum of Solace rolls through the dizzying cold open car chase followed by the first major choppy action sequence in Siena, Italy, it becomes clear that this entry's action direction is marred by ugly rough editing. While elaborately staged, particularly the opera house sequence and the climactic battle in the desert hotel, the action sequences are physically difficult to watch due to unnecessarily frenetic camera work and needless quick cutting. Any impressive stunt work performed for the picture is completely undermined by thoroughly poor presentation.

Daniel Craig once again fully commits to the role of James Bond, stunts and all, the action scenes clearly taking more of a physical toll during this second round. It's a shame that it doesn't translate more onto the screen as the camera work is so shoddy. Capably playing equal parts tough and vulnerable, Olga Kurylenko is convincing as the headstrong Camille Montes. Mathieu Amalric delivers the right amount of sleaze as human slime Dominic Greene while Anatole Taubman plays his henchman Elvis perhaps only memorable for having a stupid-looking haircut. Joaquín Cosío is appropriately despicable as the secondary villain General Medrano. Judi Dench makes her sixth appearance as M, while Giancarlo Giannini and Jesper Christensen return as René Mathis and Mr. White respectively. The indispensable Jeffrey Wright has the honor of being the only actor to play Felix Leiter in two consecutive Bond films. The film also features Rory Kinnear as M's aide Bill Tanner, Gemma Arterton making a strong charming impression as doomed MI6 agent Fields, and David Harbour as smarmy CIA section chief for South America Gregg Beam.

Quantum of Solace fails to satisfy as a stand alone picture. It is designed to serve more as an extended coda to Casino Royale, but it pales in comparison to that vastly superior Bond film. While it isn't awful, the feature is an odd underdeveloped misfire that doesn't offer anything significantly new or interesting.


THE COLD OPEN
The car chase that kicks off the film immediately gives the audience a sample of the questionable herky-jerky style of the picture's action direction. The inherent thrill of having a Bond picture open immediately where the previous one left off is pissed away as soon as you realize you can't tell what the hell you're looking at for more than a few seconds.


THE THEME SONG AND OPENING TITLES
Jack White and Alicia Keys' "Another Way To Die" is an interesting sonic experiment that never quite comes together. While the tune isn't terrible, their respective distinct styles simply don't mesh very well and the song just doesn't deliver. Composer David Arnold wrote "No Good About Goodbye" for classic Bond theme song singer Shirley Bassey and even works the tune of that song into the score for Quantum of Solace and though it was purportedly never in consideration to serve as the theme song for the film, it would've been a much better fit. The opening title sequence provided by graphic design company MK12 is quite impressive, energetically presenting Bond and the standard abstract feminine figures with an sandy desert motif.


THE BOND GIRL
Camille is the first female lead character of the franchise to be written more as a foil and decidedly not a love interest for Bond. General Medrano murdered her family when she was a child, providing her with her tragic backstory and quest for revenge. Unfortunately, aside from these details, there isn't much more to her character. As capable as she proves to be throughout the picture, Bond still has to rescue her from the burning hotel during the fiery climax of the film as her past trauma disappointingly completely paralyzes her. Two steps forward, one step back for what it's worth, I suppose.


THE BOND VILLAIN
Dominic Greene fits the mold of the standard Bond villain, a megalomaniacal magnate with a diabolical scheme. The problem is that he is far from menacing, more of a irritating nuisance than a convincing threat. In the grand scheme of the series, he hardly registers as anything more than a scoundrel driven by simple greed. The fact that he isn't even afforded and on-screen death says it all.


FEATURED HENCHMAN
Elvis kind of sucks and is far from memorable. His one moment to shine is Fields sending him down a flight of stairs. Though he is more of a secondary villain than a henchman, General Medrano is a notable adversary that deserves to be mentioned as much as Dominic Greene. He's a lecherous sadistic bastard that gets a much more satisfying death scene than the main villain of the film.


FLEMING FIDELITY
The title of the film is taken from Ian Fleming's short story Quantum of Solace first published in Cosmopolitan magazine in 1959. In the short story, a governor recounts the failed marriage between a British civil servant and an unfaithful flight attendant who settle down in Bermuda. Eventually, the man abandons his cheating wife in Bermuda with all of his financial debts, having cut all emotional ties with her when their "Quantum of Solace" dropped to zero. Bond's confrontation with Vesper's boyfriend in the film's epilogue is based on Fleming's short story 007 in New York first published in the New York Herald Tribune in 1963, in which Bond warns a female MI6 employee that her boyfriend is a KGB agent.


FRAGMENTS
- Produced during the writer's strike, director Marc Forster and Daniel Craig came up with much of the picture's story while filming with a bare bones script; Daniel Craig vowed that he would never perform in a picture with an incomplete script ever again

- Pre-Fast and Furious, Gal Gadot auditioned for the part of Camille Montes

- Pre-Game of Thrones, Oona Chaplin appears briefly as the hotel receptionist that General Medrano assaults in the last act

- Friends of Marc Forster, Alfonso Cuarón cameo appearance as a helicopter pilot and Guillermo del Toro provided additional voices for the film

- At the bottom of the end credits, the film advertises that "James Bond Will Return"


MCU CONNECTIONS
- David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov in Black Widow and Thunderbolts*)

- Olga Kurylenko (Antonia Dreykov in Black Widow and Thunderbolts*)