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 EchevarrÃa-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!"
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