I had a chance to catch a premiere of the latest installment of the James Bond series: Quantum of Solace and decided to write a short review.

The Good

• The theme song: Jack White (of the White Stripes) and Alicia Keys team up to create ‘Another Way to Die’, the intro song to the movie. It’s a typical Jack White tune — rough, yet catchy chords with his haunting vocals complemented with Alicia Keys’s soulful R&B backing.

• The action sequences: What is a James Bond flick without the action? This movie is packed with fast and furious chases — over land, air and sea. In fact, the movie opens with a great sequence.

• Daniel Craig: Pierce Brosnan was the “perfect” James Bond, so it came as quite a shock that Daniel Craig took over the role. Brosnan was the epitome of James Bond. Dashing. Debonair. Suave. And Daniel Craig did not seem to exude that same aura. He is rough, unpolished and lacks the overall Bond qualities. But, as these two movies (Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale) are supposed to be the history of how Bond came to 00 status, DC plays the role quite well, actually.

The Bad

• The Conflict: This movie is a continuation of Casino Royale… only it took a few years to make, thus leaving a bit of a disconnect. However, my main beef lies with the basic fact that there is no major conflict in the story. As you will read in “The Ugly” part of my qualms, the main dilemma in the story comes from Bond’s desire for revenge. Instead of the usual save the world and get the girl, Bond is on a personal vendetta. Yes, it gives a human dimension to Bond (and probably explains his detached persona), it does take away from the 007 aura.

The Ugly

• The villain: For some reason, this installment in the never ending Bond series had a wimp for a bad guy. No evil plan to take over the world. No ruthlessness behind every action. No typical villain characteristics. In fact, his very presence was kind of comedic. He looked like a nerd and acted like a coward. It is kind of difficult to picture Bond actually breaking a sweat, trying to bring down the baddie. Even M would have probably offered a bigger threat in a fistfight. There was, however, the backing of a mysterious international group of other bad guys.

All in all, the new James Bond flick is still a pretty good film for the franchise, if we don’t hold this 007 to the standards of all the previous roles. Daniel Craig offers a more personal and human Bond (no pun intended) which is one of the interesting notes to this installment. My guess is his future roles will see him in the more typical Bond swagger. But for just under 2 hours of celluloid, this is one movie you may want to check out.

Starring Minase Yashiro (in her film debut), the ultra violent flick is extremely violent, as it is quirky and comedic. And as is evident in Japanese pop culture, the movie takes on a life of its own.

The movie starts out with the typical school storyline of a boy being bullied by a bunch of high school thugs… but before things escalate, our heroine comes to the rescue. And once the action starts, the fun begins.

Admittedly, the dialogue and the “special” effects in this movie are sub-par. However, this is where the viewing pleasure is enhanced. The low budget prosthetics and cheesy dialogue, as well as contrite plot add to the humor of the film, so don’t expect Academy Award material when you pop this flick into your DVD player. Instead, just enjoy the ride and watch out for the creative and unpredicatble minds of the filmmakers.

While most pundits will label The Machine Girl as a B-Movie, I would still give it a A rating for sheer entertainment value. After all, how often do you get to see “Tempura Hands,” “Finger Sushi” and a “Drill Bra” in a movie. Plus, I couldn’t stop laughing and getting grossed out at the same time. When was the last time a movie made you feel that way? Probably never.

If I haven’t convinced you enough, maybe this trailer will entice you to check the flick out:

[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBt1SihHDt0]

Of course, I don’t want to give any spoilers, especially for the true fans that are going to hit the cinemas in anticipation, but I have to give my fave points on the flick:

1. Heath Ledger’s swan song performance is awesome. Instead of a loony Joker, Ledger breathes new life into a sadistic, cold blooded killer in the guise of the primary villain.
2. I love the fact that the movie stays true to the Frank Miller-esque treatment of Batman… not the Adam West portrayal. So the “Dark Knight” monicker is really given justice.
3. True to most Batman flicks, there are a lot of gadgets and gizmos. However, I appreciated the fact that it was not overdone.
4. Gary Oldman is Gary Oldman. Again, another great portrayal of Commissioner Gordon.
5. The casting of Aaron Eckhart was perfect. i couldn’t imagine anyone else playing Harvey Dent / Two-Face.
6. The prosthetics in the movie are amazing. Just wait til you get a first glimpse of Two-Face.

All in all, I believe this movie will appeal to the die-hard Batman fanatics as well as the casual movie-goer that has no pre-conceived notion of the Bat, except from the previous (and crappy) versions [Keaton, Kilmer, Clooney].