Quantum of Solace 007: Coming Not So Soon

Quantum of Solace 007 Coming Not So Soon

Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

QUANTUM OF SOLACE (aka B22, or Bond 22)

Quantum of Solace is the newest of Bond features based on Fleming's infamous and fabulously flawed government assassin, 007. Playing off the storyline created in Casino Royale in 2006, Daniel Craig once again portrays James Bond, this time bringing his character to the Bond persona we knew back when he was portrayed by the likes of Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan.
Casino Royale, the first Bond feature that delightfully introduced us to Daniel Craig, changed things up a bit when it took us back to the beginning. This at least began to answer questions for us such as, where did Bond begin? What was he like? Where did he come from? What is his background? Although Casino Royale didn't wrap this up in a neat little bow, it did gave us bits and pieces of the type of a man he was prior to his 00 status, and suggested how his job changed him and how the events that took place during Casino Royale shaped his character as we now know it. But to what extent?
This is where Quantum of Solace takes over. In the trailer, to say that Bond appears an angry man is a severe understatement. His love now dead after her betrayal as shown in end of Casino Royale, Bond is seeking revenge, and the trailer suggests he has gone rogue from MI6 (M is again played by the lovely Judi Dench). Of course, as so often the case, Bond thrives in the rogue agent persona.
The trailer gives off a dark vibe, distinguishing itself from the other Bond films. First Batman, now Bond? Is Hollywood in need of a Wellbutrin fix? In the past, Bond movies have typically had some form of intermittent comic relief with Bond's witty retorts, gratuitous half-dressed and lovely women with sexually-referenced names that thankfully your little ones don't always catch, and some surreal action footage that is often more amusing than suspenseful. Casino Royale left this behind somewhat in their successful attempt to make Bond more human and the film more realistic in general, but the trailer for QOS looks beyond simply realistic and well into bleak.
And the Bond Girls? The character of Camille is played by the lovely Olga Kurylenko, who played Nika alongside Timothy Olyphant in Hitman. The other is Gemma Arterton, a UK actress who is also in the upcoming Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. You also may have seen her on Entertainment Tonight (if you watch that garbage). Camille is about 5' 7" tall, and with heels, well… she's a little over 5' 10". Mr. Craig is only 5' 10", and as a result, they had Craig wear lifts in his shoes to make him taller than Camille throughout the shooting to make up the difference. Reportedly, Mr. Craig took this well—in fact, thinking it was rather funny. Apparently Ms. Kurylenko took every opportunity to razz Craig about it—but can you really blame her? The jokes just write themselves, do they not?
Daniel Craig said that physically, Casino Royale was a "walk in the park" compared to what he had to go through for QOS, so I would expect a lot more action from this one, which is saying a lot given the intense action scenes in the beginning of Casino Royale (the chase scene through the construction zones?). Daniel's training for the film included boxing, running, speed boating, and he apparently injured himself on three occasions during the filming.
And yes, my little Bond fans, there is yet another Bond movie in the pipeline (Bond 23 for now) scheduled for release in 2010. For those of you die-hard Bond fans, here is a chronological list of all the previous Bond movies so you can catch up before the latest one comes out.

Dr. No (1962) From Russia with Love (1963) Goldfinger (1964) Thunderball (1965) You Only Live Twice (1967) On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Live and Let Die (1973) The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Moonraker (1979) For Your Eyes Only (1981) Octopussy (1983) A View to a Kill (1985) The Living Daylights (1987) License to Kill (1989) GoldenEye (1995) Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) The World Is Not Enough (1999) Die Another Day (2002) Casino Royale (2006)

And before you ask, YES, there is a book by Fleming titled Quantum of Solace. No, this storyline does not follow that book at all—they share the title only—not even the characters are the same except for James Bond and M, so don't go thinking that if you've read the book that you are all Mr. Smartie about the movie. This is a completely original screenplay written by Neal Purvis, just based on the characters. Don't worry, a lot of the Bond films you've seen haven't been taken from Fleming's novels. Which ones weren't Fleming's stories? License to Kill was the first one (although it does take certain elements from a couple of his stories), GoldenEye (this is the first true original screenplay that made absolutely no reference to any Flemming story), Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, and Die Another Day are the others.
So Die Another Day might not have been the best Bond film ever… but the rest of the non-Fleming written Bond films seem to be holding their own. After seeing the trailer for QOS, I have no worries about this one either.

And have you seen the poster?!! That's not a Walter PPK he's holding... SWEET!