Spectre vs. Quantum of Solace

[Music] over a year ago when I first started this channel I did a comparison of two James Bond films it was enjoyable to see how spirited everyone became in the comment section but joking aside it was interesting how after 50-plus years in its franchise and a bumpy wavelength of reception James Bond is still widely debated deconstructed and cherished as fun as it is to discuss great films in the series it's important to talk about why the others didn't work I'm going to look at the two daniel craig Bond films that are generally regarded as the lower rung of his tenure Quantum of Solace and Spectre 7 categories 7 points which is the better film and is even good enough to deserve its spot in this beloved franchise let's go the script is the Achilles heel in both these films however quantum had more of an excuse to limp the dialogue is forgettable and the villains plan is about hiking up prices for Bolivia's water a plot so boring that you already forgot it just now Spectre has a different problem in that it tries to be the gritty bond it had been so far and a cheesy romp and I'm not the first to mention that these tones do not mesh it doesn't have the unfinished feel of quantum but it just makes so many unwise decisions the plot twists that isn't a twist nor effects the plot unnecessary focus on supporting characters the attempt to tie up the disconnected threads of the previous films a disturbing torture sequence followed by the easiest escape ever the movie picks lanes as haphazardly as an la driver and it cripples the experienced spectre storytelling made me angry while Quantum's didn't so by default it gets the point [Music] to me this is the greatest strength of Quantum of Solace this will sound weird but the scene I recall most vividly is a simple bit with double-oh-seven at an airplane bar sucking down martinis this is the first time I really saw bond use alcohol as a coping mechanism the guy is an alcoholic he is an immortal even psychologically and can still suffer like weekend it's a downer sure but it helped me empathize with his character his relationship with M is expanded lame the fuse trail for Sky Falls climax and I love how bonds immaturity is carried over from Casino Royale his revenge over losing Vesper isn't depicted as honorable emotionally it's understandable but that's an agent and turns him into a moron he uses the violent nature of his job in the same way he subsist on alcohol and instinctively he thinks that by eliminating the villain he'll stop aching over Vesper inspector I'm not sure what they're even going for with this character and that's not necessarily bad but they line up all these revelations like they're supposed to figure into bonds psyche in some way and it's so slapdash the therapy session the twist the ending these things are inserted like studio mandated thumbtacks to be fair bonds dialogue isn't terrible but if the actor can't muster anything above Drowsy then any characterization is going to fall apart I have never in my life seen an actor as unhappy in a role as Daniel Craig as Inspector I mean just look at him what he doin dude when media outlets poured in support for Monica Bellucci being cast as the oldest Bond girl I did think it was an interesting idea an older woman putting bond in his place cool going simpler making her just a classy cougar also cool Monica Bellucci certainly has the acting range and sex appeal but the praise was premature if an older Bond girl is mishandled but it's almost worse than just going with something standard so how did Spector do [Applause] Monica Bellucci has about as much screen time as that silent Greek woman from Skyfall the way Bond seduces her is downright creepy and I find it amusing that one of the worst kiss scenes in film history was banned in India for being too erotic so if you somehow weren't able to watch it here's basically what it looked like [Music] no really as for the other girl there's not much to say I'm all for a Bond girl without too much characterization but once again Spectre tries to do both portraying her as a hard-edged woman who doesn't put up with bombs shit and then inexplicably throwing herself at him what do we do now okay Quantum's girls are simply underwhelming Olga Kurylenko doesn't bring much screen presence and the actress for strawberry fields just delivers the lines like a petulant teenager none of these characters are interesting or even definable but I will let specters slide by with a point because Leia Sidhu at least gave a good performance with what little she had I was so excited to see waltz as a Bond villain match made in heaven but it feels like that's as far as the cast and crew went to make that happen not that I'm letting waltz off easy I can't say there's one specific thing wrong with this performance but you probably felt it something slightly off and I think it's that Walt seems trapped in the role the facial expressions posture mannerisms the cadence of his voice it's also limp like waltzes on the autopilot information in theaters I really didn't like Dominic Greene as a villain he isn't threatening or tough he's whiny sweaty and uncomfortable in his own skin when he has to network at events you can tell that he would just rather shoot himself and his attempts of intimidation come across as pathetic like a kid with a finger pistol but upon re-watching the film this is actually what I really like about him the actor plays the part perfectly and to me it's logical for a super villain to have an almost sociopathic detachment from people having the villain be so feeble makes him seem less powerful sure Greene mostly stands around making deals for 90 minutes and then starts swinging around and acts like an idiot [Music] but it helps us hate him in that weasely sort of way he's Archibald Cunningham he's Commodus and weirdly enough his performance remind me of road perdition's Connor Rooney played by Daniel Craig Dominic Greene is simply more entertaining to watch and he personifies a bad guy much better all the action in Spectre is crisp and clean and utilizes a good deal of practical effects I should love it so why don't I maybe it's because I don't feel the stakes maybe it's because everything outside of the Train cardfight seems too easy for Bond maybe it's the rushed and anticlimactic helicopter scene at the end maybe it's because it's too clean like I'm watching the behind the scenes footage of characters and vehicles queuing up for their big moments and contains about as much excitement as an above-average beer run yeah I think it's all those things Quantum has the opposite issue the action feels more raw and gritty but the editing and camerawork are horrible [Music] can we all agree that shaky-cam has no place in a Bond film and if the only way you can make a chase intense is to attach the camera to a squirrel and let it run loose then you are a shitty filmmaker both theme songs are really emblematic of the film's overall flaws quantum features the most bizarre pairing of singers Jack white and Alicia Keys while I did enjoy the swirling sandy visuals their voices do not cooperate white is constantly drowned out and their harmonies are not harmonious Specter is even worse if you want your mind blown listen to Radiohead's rejected theme song for the film now I do understand why Radiohead would not in a million years fit any other Bond film however this is the darkest Bond movie ever and would have fit a hell of a lot better than this whiny ballad from Sam Smith even if you liked the song the visuals they chose to go with it do not match skulls shadows shapeless figures and gothic hentai fill the screen while Smith is in the background like and when they say Spectre is dark I'm not using that as a compliment it's not gritty like children of men not sensuous like Jane Eyre or suspenseful like rear-window it's muddy mucky and fucking ugly what was the color scheme of this film poop brown and faded gold Bond films need variety and vibrancy even daytime scenes are so muted that they're kind of gross not to say nothing works the opening tracking shop is groovy there's some good framing and I'm glad the shakey cam isn't around to ruin the party but it's so boring quantum is messy and shaky and even inept at points the camera doesn't settle enough to get a real grasp of environments and nothing is shot with any imagination but it didn't put me to sleep so I have to choose between Proficient nyquil and sloppy cocaine so a homeless under protest I'm giving it to Specter for at least showing some level of craftsmanship I've spent this video explaining all the technical aspects of film both as equally and perhaps more important is how the film succeeded at what it set out to do is a horror movie scary is a comedy funny is an action film exciting obviously the technical aspects influenced this but I think it's wise to distinguish how impressive a film is and how well it functioned and its own agenda in this case how the quantum inspector fair at being spy action films pal bond are these Bond films Spectre is too slow and drab and monochromatic to instill that sense of adventure you can really feel the absence of Judi Dench here who brought such vitality the scenes that could have been snoozers every scene without bond on screen I wanted a nap and the finished product feels less like a spy film and more like a stale outline of one the most damning failure is that Bond films are all about exotic locations inspector manages to make Rome and the Alps dull how is that even possible quantum at least has some color the hotel is a nice setting bond the suave in sections although the way he seduces fields is so lame the stationery oh shit hold on let me write that one down I'm gonna use that the bar there aren't as many long stretches of boring dialogue and even though the plot is rather inconsequential the pacing gives off a sense that we're at least moving towards something there are genuine moments where the film earned that coveted oh yeah feeling it isn't classy but it's classier so quantum wins but the question is does it deserve its place in the franchise yes there are Bond films that I honestly don't enjoy but if I had the power I wouldn't remove them from the series the lesser movies not only show us what doesn't and by contrast does work in a Bond film but they also add something almost endearing to the affair these are silly films but I don't hate them they have genuine good moments and while I wish they were better at no point did they besmirched the franchise Spectre is so full of bad decisions it's swelling and it's attempts to tie together previous films was the point of hemorrhage quantum I have the right intentions but didn't know how to get the job done Spectre was broken from the start quantum did its job badly Spectre did it wrong when bond drives off at the end of Spectre I wouldn't care if he never returned if the car detonated and so unlike Michael Fassbender strolled in in two words the finale was a good riddance what was Quantum's bond I need you back I never left damn straight [Music] you

Channel: Clear Critique

Views: 75,096

Rating: 4.6729131 out of 5

Keywords: spectre, james bond, spectre trailer, clear critique, film critic, movie review, casino royale, quantum of solace, quantum of solace theme song, movie critic review, movie critic, bond ranking, james bond movies, quantum vs spectre, daniel craig bond, film analysis, james bond analysis, james bond video, daniel craig film, quantum of solace ending, no time to die trailer, no time to die james bond, james bond no time to die, james bond trailer, daniel craig james bond

Id: P23BB27lpzs

Length: 12min 24sec (744 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 21 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/watdeheq3]

spectre is better imo

[u/great_bowser]

In Spectre, I at least knew what was going on and who the bad guy was. Though by trying to make us believe that all the previous movies were connected it completely destroyed the the Craig series.