The shortest James Bond in the saga is broadcast this evening on TV

James Bond returns this Monday, November 4, 2024 at 9:05 p.m. on France 3 for his shortest mission in the famous franchise. An opus that did not leave an impression…

There was a time when films often ran around the symbolic 1h30 mark. But today, the fashion is more for very feature-length films in Hollywood. American productions hit theaters with running times that very regularly exceed 2h30. It's certainly not Christopher Nolan who will say the opposite. Recent examples Mission impossible : Dead Reckoning – partie 1, Babylonor even Killers of the Flower Moon are particularly eloquent in this sense. As a good historical saga of the big screen, James Bond has also logically evolved with the times on this level. The latest interpreter of the most famous of spies, Daniel Craig had plenty of time to say goodbye to him in Dying can wait. Its 2h43 also makes it by far the longest film in the franchise. In five adventures, the English actor has seen all the colors, also conversely holding the record (admittedly quite useless) for the shortest mission with Quantum of Solace (1h46).

Quantum of Solacedirect sequel to Casino Royale

As a reminder, Quantum of Solace picks up where Casino Royale stopped. Even if he publicly likes to play the tough guy, James Bond has a hard time getting over the death of his dearest Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). He has captured the mysterious Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) in the hope of learning more about the equally enigmatic criminal organization that is giving MI6 a lot of trouble. But let's just say that everything doesn't really go as planned. 007 then heads to Haiti in the footsteps of a man with links to Le Chiffre (emblematic antagonist of Casino Royale played by Mads Mikkelsen). Well surrounded for his second mission, Daniel Craig plays opposite Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Jeffrey Wright, and of course the eternal Judi “M” Dench. However, this 22nd opus of the English spy in the cinema is without a shadow of a doubt the worst of Pierce Brosnan's successor.

Quantum of Solacethe least good of Daniel Craig's James Bonds

The big problem of Quantum of Solaceit is first of all that it suffers from the comparison with Casino Royalewhich many call the best in the franchise. The certainly rhythmic production of Marc Forster is much less inspired than the raw touch of Martin Campbell. Even judging it independently of its elder, the scenario quickly reveals itself to be too weak. The short duration of the film is therefore not unrelated to the lack of depth of the characters and development of the plot. Everything is happening too quickly. There still remains the pleasure of finding 007 destroying his enemies at all costs in effective action sequences. Daniel Craig will fortunately then return with a vengeance in the much better (not to say very good) Heavy rain Then Spectre, and therefore Dying can wait. Enough to leave us with a very good memory.