QUANTUM OF SOLACE

2008

DIRECTOR: Marc Forster

007 has never been my favourite, so there’s only so much excitement I can garner for the subject. But since Jason Bourne, under the directorship of Paul Greengrass that is, redefined the genre, and Daniel Craig’s incarnation followed suit, things have looked up for the franchise. Bond has done remarkably well, there’s no doubting that, with well over 20 outings and on to its 6th official star over five decades. It’s iconic, with its gadgets, visuals, gags, tone and theme songs, let alone the signature tune, whether the late John Barry composed it or not.

I remember, as many will, the backlash against Craig taking over the Bond mantle, as well as the about-face when he proved to be a hit. Daniel Craig makes a great Bond for new decade. This Bond is harder, tougher and more in keeping with the type of man you’d expect to do what he does. The villains are meaner, he get’s hurt, which is about time, and he spends more time out of his tux than in it, and I’m not talking about the ubiquitous nooky, either!

Bond is more believable since Matt Damon fell of a boat and lost his memory. But enough about Casino Royale, this number 2, or 23 whichever… The issue that some critics had with this film was to argue that it was light, that it had returned to the straight forward Bond of days gone by formula after the deeper and more intellectual take of Royale, and whilst that’s true in some respects, its wrong in others. Granted, it’s a straight forwards plot, the villainy seems to be back on the level of SPECTRE and besides killing loads of people, there’s little more going on that what you can see with your naked eye, but the action is spectacular, and the performances do well to keep up, but again, with the gross exception of Gemma Arterton. I’ve asked this before and I will again: Why is she being cast, again and again? She can’t act for toffee! Sorry!

There’s no Oscars on offer here, this isn’t a lost work of Shakespeare and nor does it pretend to be. It’s a modern Bond for the post Bourne era, and we must not forget that Bourne is never about complex plots, just engrossing action. Quantum, though contrived at times, was generally well judged, its heart was in the right place and it had a sense of direction that I personally would only be to happy to follow.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

2008

DIRECTORS: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Winner of the coveted Best Picture Oscar for 2008, I really wasn’t sure what to expect from his film. The Coen’s sense of humour, whilst amusing me, often leaves me a little cold whilst their sense of irony and universal observations of human nature can begin to grate on me after a while. Fargo must be their best work to date, with me residing firmly in the camp that The Big Labowski wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. Other efforts such as Intolerable Cruelty have struck a chord but the Coen Brothers are what they are, and you either like it or you don’t.

But then, No Country For Old Men turns up, and whilst defiantly rooted in their style, this was the Coen’s done to a tee. A perfect blend of drama, thrills and all of the above, leaving me tense from start to finish. I don’t want to go into the plot as I went in cold, and am so very glad that I did. But I will say that the cast, all of them, did themselves proud, with big hitters such as Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, leading cast of other up and coming great talents, such a the remarkable Javiar Bardem. Britain’s very own Kelly MacDonald of Trainspotting fame was first class in this also, utterly convincing as a Texan trailer park wife, even though she’s very Scottish, certainly putting Sean Connery’s Scottich/Russian submariner to shame!

The same for Bardem, Spanish by birth, portrayed a psychopathic American with frightening power, subtle yet menacing for every moment that he’s on-screen, and even when he’s not. The film is not for the faint hearted that’s for sure, gripping with a relentless tension throughout, atmospherically and precisely directed, the 117 minutes do not zip along, nor does it seem to drag. The plot plays out naturally, inventively and engrossing from the opening frame.

This is a great blend of performance meeting the narrative, the story being presented perfectly on the film, and since this is a relatively direct adaptation of the source novel, it’s admirable that they’ve managed to do this without losing the spirit of either. This is a film very worthy of an Academy Award, and is defiantly worth two hours of your time. Love it or hate it, this is a classic, a true film.