007 Die Another Day Review

Rated PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Action Violence, and Sexual Content including Innuendo)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 12 Minutes

Cast-

Pierce Brosnan-007, James Bond

Halle Berry-Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson

Toby Stephens-Gustav Graves

Rosamund Pike-Miranda Frost

Rick Yune-Zao

Judi Dench- M

John Cleese-Q

Samantha Bond-Miss Jane Moneypenny

Colin Salmon-Charles Robinson

Michael Madsen-Damian Falco

Will Yun Lee-Colonel Tan-Sun Moon

Kenneth Tsang-General Moon

Emilio Echevarría-Raoul

Lawrence Makoare-Mr. Kil

Rachel Grant-Peaceful Fountains of Desire

Madonna-Verity

Directed by Lee Tamahori 

Pierce Brosnan remains in top form as James Bond but "Die Another Day" represents the franchise's worse aspects.

I may prefer Daniel Craig but Pierce Brosnan was an excellent James Bond, which makes his fourth and final outing in the role all the more disheartening. “Die Another Day,” released in 2002, is the twentieth Bond film and to mark the series’ fortieth anniversary, it included references to the previous nineteen installments. Unfortunately, the film’s heavy reliance on loud action, dodgy CGI, and excessive gadgets turned Bond into a poor parody of himself. With a formulaic and outlandish plot to appeal to younger audiences, “Die Another Day” marks the lowest point in this storied franchise.

007, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) infiltrates a North Korean military base led by Colonel Tan-Sun Moon (Will Yun Lee), who sells weapons in exchange for African conflict diamonds. Bond’s cover is blown when someone within MI6 informs Moon’s comrade-in-arms, Zao (Rick Yune), of his true identity and a firefight ensues. Moon is killed when his hovercraft runs off a waterfall but Bond is captured by his father, General Moon (Kenneth Tsang). For fourteen months, Bond is imprisoned and tortured for information but eventually he is released in a prisoner exchange for Zao, who has now become a terrorist. His 00-status revoked, Bond goes rogue to find out who betrayed him and his investigation takes him to Havana, Cuba, where he meets the beautiful Giacinta ‘Jinx’ Johnson (Halle Berry). After a night of passion, Bond tracks Zao to a gene therapy clinic but he escapes during the confusion, leaving behind a necklace containing diamonds bearing the mark of Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), a wealthy British entrepreneur. Graves is planning to unveil a satellite code-named Icarus in Iceland and while there, Bond runs into Jinx once more, who is revealed to be an NSA agent when she is captured by Zao. Bond rescues her and discovers that Graves plans to harness the power of the sun through Icarus for world domination.

Before “Casino Royale,” Bond films have always been ridiculous in its plots and offered weak character development but “Die Another Day” takes the cake. The film initially shows promise with Bond imprisoned and tortured, which is something new but it then devolves into the franchise’s worst aspects. Graves uses a mirrored satellite that shoots a giant beam of sunlight in order to detonate the one thousand landmines strewn across the demilitarized zone to allow the North Koreans to attack the South. Now, that scenario is sound (if needlessly complicated) but the execution is awful and turns this Bond film into bad science-fiction. Much of its running time is padded by action scenes which seem to grow louder and dumber. Still, they are enjoyable but it turns Bond into a generic action hero. One has him racing across the ice to escape the satellite’s concentrated beam and when he falls over the edge, Bond uses a makeshift surfboard and parasails across the resulting waves. Unfortunately, this entire sequence is CG and it's poorly done. When it cuts to Bond up-close, the green-screen is painfully obvious. As if that wasn’t enough, Bond gets into his Aston Martin (now equipped with a cloaking device!) and engages in a chase with Zao, whose car comes with a mini-gun attached in the trunk. I wonder if that accessory will come with my first car. Many explosions occur and I kept thinking how it was possible to even fit a driver’s seat with all the rockets and grenades stowed on each of their decked-out cars. For the record, the cloaking effect for Bond’s car is terrible as well. This all leads to big climax where Bond fights hand-to-hand with Graves, who is wearing a corny mech suit that controls his satellite. All that was missing is a jet-pack! To add that ‘cool-factor,’ the camera often goes into slow-motion but it’s just annoying. The action will come off as enjoyable in any other generic action film but for “Die Another Day,” it’s just excessive and turns Bond into a caricature of himself.

Pierce Brosnan is still at the top of his game and is one of the film’s few saving graces. As Jinx, Halle Berry makes a memorable entrance that pays homage to Ursula Andress’ Honey Ryder from the first Bond film, “Dr. No.” However, her line readings sound confused and she always looks unsure of what to do during the action scenes. Rosamund Pike fares a lot better as the cold-hearted Miranda Frost. Toby Stephens smirks and revels in his evilness, which adds to the cartoon aspect of the film and his henchman Zao, played by Rick Yune, is like any other disfigured Bond villain. He even wears a trench coat to let you know he’s bad! The opening theme is hard to sit through as it’s sung by Madonna. Now I have no problem with her but it’s a pop song that belongs in an album for fourteen-year-old girls. It has no business being in a Bond film. She even has a cameo in the film where she shows off her ‘amazing’ acting talent. Fortunately, David Arnold’s score is fine and serves as a reminder that we’re still watching a Bond film.

“Die Another Day” was released on November 22, 2002 and received mixed reviews with 57% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics found it was ‘pure formula, but it has some nifty elements.’ It continued the trend of having higher box office grosses with $431.9 million worldwide. The problem with this film is that it panders to the ADD generation by going overboard with the action and the gadgets, losing the core essence of what Bond was about. Fortunately, the producers seemed to have realized this and when Bond returned, he was back in a way no one expected and for the better, as 2006’s “Casino Royale” abandoned all of the franchise’s crazy elements. As an action film, it’s okay but as a Bond film, “Die Another Day” is mediocre. The formula is still the same but the method seems to get more ludicrous. Watch it for the sake of completion, nothing more.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

"You see Mr. Bond, you can't kill my dreams. But my dreams can kill you. Time to face destiny!"