Search found 1 match: Gemma Arterton

Searched query: gemma arterton

by xacviant
Mon Nov 12, 2012 9:23 pm
Forum: Movie-Specific
Topic: Ranking the Bond films
Replies: 170
Views: 101222

Re: Ranking the Bond films

I'm gonna say right off the bat, I don't get the hate for Quantum of Solace. I didn't get it in 2008, and I get it less now. I'll own that the film has two major flaws: the editing, especially in the first 20 minutes, is pretty irritating, and the final 10 minutes wrap things up WAY too quickly--they could have taken another 5 minutes, still have had a brisk film, and have made it that much more satisfying.

But that said, there's so much about QoS that's good. Marc Forster pulls off some great directorial flourishes--I recall one review that compared the opera scene to Hitchcock, and that's wholly on the mark: the shot with Bond in the background facing Greene and his henchmen in the foreground is simply marvelous.

The plot is a pretty simple Bond vs. evil tycoon narrative, but in QoS it allows for a surprisingly cynical look at bureaucrats and British-American tensions, while Greene, as played by Mathieu Amalric, is a wholly believable Eurotrash manipulator. They could've done more with his main henchman, but Greene's a very solid villain.

Add in Olga Kurylenko (who's good despite getting kind of a raw deal from the hair and makeup people) and Gemma Arterton (who's...yeah), as well as a dash of Mr. White (who's REALLY cool), and you've got a Bond film that can stand proudly among its brethren.