Die Another Day

On a mission in Korea, James Bond is captured and tortured for 18 months. He is swapped with Korean agent Zao for his freedom. However M has swapped him not to save him, but because she believes Bond has cracked and is giving away information. However Bond knows there is another mole in the area and escapes to uncover what Zao is up to and to uncover his Western ally.

I looked forward to this film because I like Bond and easily get caught up in the hype. I think it is just down to the success of the formula and the fact that it feels comfortable to know you're getting a slightly different version of reliable product. For me, familiarity has yet to breed contempt in this series. I wanted to like this film more, although I did enjoy the vast majority of it. It's biggest problem is simply that it tries too hard and wants to do too much. The plot is OK and is a brave start showing our hero broken and in prison, but from there it does try and do way too much. It was good to relate the pre-credits scene to the rest of the film but the film seems restless unless it is having a major bit of plot happening - too many little twists or new bits of plot that stopped the film flowing. The plot is OK at heart but the little additions of diamonds, ice palace, weapons in space, DNA alteration, electrical suits all gets a bit much.

The film's direction is also a bit frantic. A little bit of Matrix creeping in and sudden rushing cameras etc. It isn't needed, indeed they make the cake feel over egged, like the director didn't trust himself enough to a good job and needed gimmicks etc. On top of this there are three or so cgi shots that are really poor (and I mean Mummy Returns poor). It doesn't help that the theme song is one of the worst ever but I could get past that as the action under the credits helped distract from it. The action is all good on the whole but there didn't seem enough room for them and all that plot - also everything was overdone. We don't need matrix type effects in Bond - all we need is a certain amount of flair and well designed shots etc. I sound negative but I still enjoyed this despite the weaknesses cause at the end of the day the formula still works even with the monkeying around.

One of the main reasons is Brosnan himself. he is getting better every film. He does some bad puns but never to the mocking extent of Moore and he also does the dangerous element of Connery. Even when the film starts to get silly he remains strong in the lead. Berry is wasted and is a distraction more than a good addition. From the cringe worthy first scene with Bond (trading smutty one liners) onwards she has no character worth speaking of. Her dialogue is innuendo and not lines, her acting is all in the twitch of her lips as she flirts and that's it. To look at, she does the job, but i thought we'd gotten past Bond girls that are eye-candy and nothing more. Pike is given a more frosty role and does pretty well despite being very cold when viewed beside the flirtatious Berry. Stephens hams it up as Graves. He starts well but the plot spin on his character (esp. the electric suit stuff) takes away from his credibility as a bad guy and he ends up as a cartoon type rather than a real threat. Yune on the other hand is a real good villain - a gimmick (his face) but also presence and real menace without hamming it up. I had hoped he would be the focus but alas no. Dench is good and Madsen is an interesting addition - but perhaps he wasn't the best choice for the head of NSA given the type of roles he is best known for - how many other people could only see Mr Blonde? Cleese does well as the new Q and brings his comedy into the role well, making it similar to the spirit of Q without being a copy. Madonna's cameo is as bad and as pointless as her theme song.

Overall let me stress I enjoyed this film but couldn't help but see the many flaws. It simply tries too hard in almost every area - plot, writing, action, direction. The formula is all there but it feels like they want to up the ante in every way, only at the basic level does the film feel comfortable in it's own skin and relaxes, for most of the time you'd think this was a new film desperately trying to start a franchise as opposed to a long running series.

DIE ANOTHER DAY is a unique Bond film for me because I had seen the other entries in the franchise before I discovered the IMDb . In other words my only knowledge of its reputation is down to the comments I have read on these pages and because many commentators are so loud in their condemnation ( Bad CGI , awful title track etc ) I was expecting a really bad movie never mind a really bad Bond movie , but DIE ANOTHER DAY wasn't as bad as I was expecting

It's interesting to note that the Bond series never really concerned itself with painting communists as bad guys . OCTOPUSSY ties in with the cold war very much as does THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS to a lesser degree but in no way can the series be criticised as being right wing or reactionary with GOLDENEYE wearing its heart on it's sleeve that Russian gangsterism is more of a worry than Russian communism so it's something of a shock seeing Bond battle Stalinist commies in North Korea . That is in no way a criticism either .

We're then treated to a bizarre title sequence composed of a torture montage with quite simply the worst theme tune ever devised for a Bond movie . I don't know what is about the Pierce Brosnan Bonds but they all have very poor title songs despite having all round superb production values and DIE ANOTHER DAY continues the high production values , a lot of people complain about the CGI and I must admit the cartoonish jet at the end does look like a cartoon but compare this sequence to all the action scenes in the 1980s which were composed of Roger Moore standing in front of some back projection and no matter how much you don't want to say it you must confess we've come a long way since then

Some people have also let rip that the film is ruined by post modernist self reference but I disagree . Come on chaps when you've seen one Bond movie since the late 1960s you've seen most of them . Plot wise DIE ANOTHER DAY is very , very similar to GOLDENEYE with a " British " villain in charge of a death ray in outer space with a fair amount of LICENSED TO KILL thrown in . It should be remembered both YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE and THE SPY WHO LOVED ME had the same identical plot with serious hardware being stolen from the USSR and America in order to start a nuclear holocaust . There is a ridiculous amount of humour though involving John Cleese as Q . I know you shouldn't take James Bond movies seriously but did we need an invisible car ?

The other thing I disliked was Jinx . Think about it , she's tough and kills without hesitation so how come she needs rescuing from Bond ? She's just a cypher there to create a love interest and it's amazing that the producers seriously considered starting a spin off series with Jinx as the heroine . It would have been as successful as CATWOMEN . There is a problem with a plot twist involving both Gustav Graves and Miranda Frost , the twist is good but unfortunately the surprise only works once which means on second viewing the shock value of the plot revelation is gone therefore DIE ANOTHER DAY doesn't have the same enjoyment second , third or fourth viewing unlike classic Bond movies

I'm not a big Bond fan but have been fairly impressed with the standards of the franchise from GOLDENEYE to DIE ANOTHER DAY , they've really come leaps and bounds from the Roger Moore debacles like MOONRAKER and VIEW TO A KILL . One aspect that is over looked in the series is the character interaction between Bond and M ( Convincingly played by Judi Dench ) and I hope to see this abrasive relationship continue when the series returns with a new actor in the lead role

It's the 20th Bond film and premiered on the 40th anniversary of the series, and, in many ways, it is really a tribute to the entire series itself. This film's strength and its weakness both lie in the fact that it is a blend of the classic Connery films, the outlandish Moore films, and the grittiness of the Dalton films. It's rolling the entire series into a single two hour adventure and the result is actually pretty entertaining. The first half is definitely stronger than the second; a more serious adventure with a classic feel to it, before taking a nose dive down into utter camp territory. I didn't mind the idea of making some scenes a little over-the-top, but I think they went overboard at times. Throughout the movie, the filmmakers toss in little references to previous Bond films. I suppose it's a fun idea to stop and consider how far these films have come over the last 40-something years, and a long time Bond fan can find amusement in finding these subtle, but long remembered treasures that poke their head in this film for one last time. As for the technical aspects of the film: The special effects are a little too ambitious and don't always come across convincing. The dialogue goes back and forth from excellent to atrocious. The ensemble of actors is pretty strong, except for Halle Berry, who in my opinion was completely wrong for a Bond movie. The villains are a little more dynamic. The action sequences are an improvement, in my mind. Granted, there are some instances where the filmmakers push the envelope a little too far, as mentioned above. However, they also show a certain amount of creativity that seemed to be lacking in the previous two films. Overall, this film is really a mixed bag. At moments there is potential for one of the greatest Bond adventures. At other moments you're thinking, "What the heck am I watching." Personally, I feel the positives balance out the negatives, but if anything, this film is a good popcorn movie. All in all, it wasn't a bad way to close out the series before rebooting it again with Casino Royale.

To its credit, "Die Another Day" starts out reasonably well, even the much maligned title song actually isn't terrible. Then it gets worse, and worse, and worse. You know, there's ridiculousness that's enjoyable, like in "GoldenEye", then there's "Die Another Day", a movie so caught up in its complete silliness it forgets to realize it, thinking its overzealous use of gadgetry, its hilariously bad Robo-villain (cut me some slack, I couldn't think of a better nickname), and Halle Berry. Miss Berry is easily among the very worst Bond girls, and the fact that she's alongside Rosamund Pike, who manages to do such a good job with what little she's given, doesn't really help at all.

In "Die Another Day", there's not a second of humor that works. All the one-liners will have you cringing, albeit less than any attempt at actual serious dialogue this pathetic mess makes, as the script is completely ludicrous from start to finish, which is a continuation of the 'good writers writing terribly' theme in Bond history, where genuinely good writers write horrible messes like this, mainly because it seems they're lazy. I do find it humorous that the biggest fans of "Casino Royale" who claim it is by far the best Bond film conveniently ignore the fact that it was written by the same writing crew (with the addition of script-polisher Paul Haggis) which gave us the last three installments of the Bond franchise. Writers do what they're asked to do, and my guess is that "Die Another Day" is as much the producers' fault as the writers'.

Lee Tamahori is a completely bizarre choice for director, and a terrible one at that, seeing how he has never made an especially good film. David Arnold's score is again very good but he can't save the film and though I really like Brosnan's Bond the direction the series was going in at this point was truly dangerous and could've resulted in the end for Bond if allowed to go on. There was no reason to stop- "Die Another Day" was a massive financial success, the highest grossing of Brosnan's films and actually about as well-reviewed by major critics as the last two films in the series, but audience feedback and hopefully common sense led to the reinvigoration of the franchise in "Casino Royale". Thank heavens for that.

3/10

Die Another Day

Directed by Lee Tamahori.

Starring Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry and Judi Dench.

Pierce Brosnan's fourth effort as James Bond turns out to be by far his worst, resulting in the overly cheesy and disappointing "Die Another Day." Marking a double anniversary for the series (twenty films in forty years), the movie celebrates the tried-and-true Bond formula by tossing in at least one reference to each previous installment. While it may be fun to play 'Guess That Bond Movie' for a bit, there is generally not much enjoyment to be had in this uninspired entry.

The pre-title sequence kicks things off in typical Bond fashion. 007 invades a North Korean military base and, after an exciting hovercraft chase, is captured and imprisoned for over a year. As the credits roll -- to the sub par theme sung by Madonna -- the audience sees Bond beaten and tortured. MI6 only comes to his aid because they believe that he has cracked under pressure, and don't want the North Koreans siphoning important information. The once-heroic secret agent returns to his homeland a disgrace. The intro sets a serious tone for the film, duping its audience into suspecting that a similarly themed story will follow. That's what would have made sense, but it certainly isn't what occurs.

"Die Another Day" is split into two very different films. In the first half, it's a revenge story played relatively straight with interesting plot turns and developments. Bond, without the backing of his agency, seeks revenge for his betrayal in North Korea, following a trail (with stops at Hong Kong, Havana and Iceland) that eventually leads to diamond tycoon Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens). Graves is a pretty standard villain at first glance: rich, eccentric and power hungry. In fact, the entire first hour is business as usual for the series; nothing new but enjoyable nonetheless.

The story takes a turn for the outrageous in its second half, starting with Bond's initial encounter with Graves. The two quickly clash egos at a prestigious London fencing club. Their friendly match soon becomes an over-the-top sword fight that toes the line between exhilaration and camp. In the very next scene, Bond is reinstated at MI6 and "Die Another Day" simultaneously ditches the revenge theme. Apparently, Tamahori was no longer concerned with that aspect of the story, instead preferring to prop up his movie with ridiculous gadgets and unconvincing action sequences. The series typically employs stunt men to realize its fantastic feats, but this outing amps up the CGI to a disappointing degree. Seeing a computer-generated Pierce Brosnan riding a tidal wave and dodging icebergs on a makeshift surfboard is just too much. Remember, just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Brosnan's effort in "Die Another Day" recalls that of Sean Connery in his last 007 feature, "Diamonds Are Forever." Much like Connery at the time, Brosnan has simply lost interest and sleepwalks from scene to scene. His heart clearly isn't in it, whether it be due to the corniness of the film or boredom with the role in general. He stars opposite Halle Berry, whose Jinx character is set up as Bond's female equivalent. She's an American agent working for the NSA, with an appetite for sex and excitement. Despite the good intentions, Jinx is just a poorly disguised effort to appease feminist sensibilities (not to mention, she's just plain annoying). The producers make sure that she kicks butt, yet she is still the helpless damsel in distress when the time comes.

This twentieth installment means well, and in the hands of a more competent director it could have been much better, but "Die Another Day" ultimately fails because of its indecisiveness. The film sacrifices story to make way for mindless action, but in order for the audience to care about the action there needs to be a compelling story driving it along (I guess those responsible for the movie never heard about the chicken and the egg). It attempts to pay tribute to the past, but instead combines the worst bits of the old movies. As a result, "Die Another Day" takes its place alongside "Diamonds Are Forever", "Moonraker" and "A View to a Kill" as one of the worst Bond films ever made.

Final Grade: D