The trailer is out for the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace.
[July update: The trailer was available on YouTube, but it’s been taken down. Now you can find it on the film’s official site.]
It appears to be from the “rogue Bond chased by his own bosses” school of Bond films, which is probably not a good thing. However, The Guardian film blog notes that Paul Haggis has returned to work on the script, and that probably is a good thing. He did fine work on Casino Royale.
The Guardian, also on a good thing/bad thing kick, lists “the gadgets might be back” as a bad thing. We couldn’t agree more. Nothing kills the drama of a Bond faster than the dopey and unbelievable 0.3 megaton Omega wristwatch neutron bombs. Casino Royale was admirably restrained in that regard, with Daniel Craig‘s glove-compartment medical kit being the one thrillingly effective exception.
As for the name Quantum of Solace, it’s in the grand Bond tradition of grabbing titles from Ian Fleming stories with no regard to plot or meaning. If it sounds cool, that’s enough, or so the theory goes. And we have to admit that’s true.
In this case, the title comes from a short story published in 1959 and included in Fleming’s 1960 collection For Your Eyes Only (itself the title of a later Bond film — and dig the crazy original book cover). It’s an unusual Bond story: Trapped at a boring dinner party after an assignment in the Bahamas, Bond finds himself drawn into an ambassador’s tale of love and marriage among civil servants. The title phrase refers to the modicum of comfort and affection that a marriage must have in order to survive.
The story — including a cheating, emasculating wife who gets her comeuppance — won’t do anything to satisfy those who feel Fleming is a terrific misogynist. (Or is it gynophobic?) But it was a rather interesting departure for Bond.
The film Quantum of Solace is due out in October 2008.
From the Who2 blog:
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