Die Another Day (2002)
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Die Another Day (2002)
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond 007 in DIE ANOTHER DAY
Halle Berry * Toby Stephens * Rosamund Pike and Judi Dench as M
Directed by LEE TAMAHORI
I can accept Bond being captured - it's happened before; but, I'm used to seeing him break free within a week, not stay the helpless captive. I suppose this plot point was included for shock effect, to differentiate it as a 40th-anniversary Bonder and help facilitate the story of what Bond's foe was doing in the meantime - but this last reason was unnecessary: Bond could have been on other missions while 'Mr.G.Graves' was establishing himself. Furthermore, MI6 & M come across as extra cold here: after Bond is finally free (remember, after over a year!), M merely suggests it may have been better had he continued being tortured and that he is useless now. Way to go with the morale-boosting, M; maybe she was purposely making him angry. In any case, I can't get past that 14 months imprisonment; I mean, speaking of anger, Bond should have planned an angry escape within a year, if he really was Bond. Instead, he's released as part of a prisoner exchange; I think they should've made it about 6 months of prison time - that would've sat better with me. At least, he WAS angry when finally free.
So that's where the positive aspects begin. This is Brosnan's best turn at Bond. He had 3 Bonders under his belt by this point and seems more seasoned, more hardened (a prison term will do that to you), and just plain tougher; he even reminded me of Sean Connery in a couple of scenes. He's frustrated, feels betrayed, but will not give up. His early scenes with the beard and long hair may be off-putting, but even these recall Connery's role in The Rock, as an agent who had been imprisoned for many years. Against the odds, Brosnan still suggests Bond here, especially when he strolls into that hotel in Hong Kong, a ragamuffin with the demeanor of a duke.
The tone suggests rebirth, but not a new direction; in fact, the rest of the film is a blatant redo of most previous Bond films - yes, there are many homages. The sequence with the new Q (John Cleese) and the new invisible car seems a bit forced, as if they tried too hard to top the old Aston Martin stuff, but I did replay the scene with all the old gadgets in storage; this is what Bond fans live for, one can't deny it.
After some standard espionage in Havana and meeting the latest Bond girl (Halle Berry), the latter half of the story takes place in Iceland, in an ice palace, and where there's lots of ice, everywhere. Visually, it's striking, though the overuse of digital FX, involving icebergs and huge waves, thrusts it into unfamiliar terrain again, no matter how impressive. There's a tiresome chase between two autos in the palace which goes on way too long.
The climactic fighting on the airplane is adrenaline-charged and we don't get bored, but it's a bit too much: a lot of sound and fury, not really signifying much. I do have to give some props to actress Rosamund Pike, who starts out as a demure agent in a very secondary role, but transforms into an exciting femme fatale out of some grand adventure by the time of her final scenes, complete with sword and outfit. She kind of outshines Halle Berry here. Toby Stephens as the main villain and Rick Yune as his henchman, Zao, are less impressive, though both give solid performances, and at least their demises are fairly well done.
With all the homages mixed in (the most famous being Berry's bathing suit in her first scene), the line between homage and rip-off becomes blurred. The primary menace, the use of a death ray from orbit, simply reruns the threat unveiled by Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever, even if the FX are a bit better. But, there is some resonance in the mixing of hot and cold images throughout, suggesting a chaotic universe - which is Bond - and even a sci-fi universe.
Base of Galactic Science Fiction :: SCIENCE FICTION CINEMA :: Semi-Science Fiction Films :: Super Agents - James Bond and his ilk
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