Feature
Review | Die Another Day
Written by: Brian
Orndorf
The James Bond franchise is celebrating its 40th
birthday this year. The series has come a long way from the hard edge
spy thrillers of “Dr. No” and “From Russia With Love,” to the
more cartoony, dependable installments of the Roger Moore years, and
“Tomorrow Never Dies” from 1997. The latest 007 chapter is “Die
Another Day,” and just as this wholly entertaining series was about
to shrivel a little more, artistically speaking, comes this film,
which brings a little of the pep and verve back to Bond that was once
headed for extinction.
After a dangerous mission into the core of North Korea goes wrong,
James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is sent to suffer in a prison cell for the
next 14 months. Upon release, Bond soon learns that his country wants
nothing to do with him, and he must act alone to achieve revenge on
those that put him behind bars. This group includes the villainous Zao
(Rick Yune, “The Fast And The Furious”), who has aligned himself
with a new supervillian, the rich industrialist Gustav Graves (Toby
Stevens, “Possession”). While Graves has charmed the world media
with his outlandish playboy antics, he is planning to take the nations
hostage with a satellite called The Icarus, a weapon capable of using
the power of the sun to fry the Earth. It is up to Bond and an
American NSA agent called Jinx (Halle Berry) to defeat Graves and Zao
and save the planet from doom.
When you walk into a James Bond film, there are certain
expectations that are in play. One expects Bond to be suave, and to
bed many women. There should be gigantic explosions, and intricate
stunt set pieces. Villains should be bigger than life, with the
eradication of Bond their life’s work. And the script should feature
worldwide espionage, with carefully placed quips along the way. These
are only a few of the elements that make up the Bond formula that we
know today. The series has moved far away from its down and dirty
roots of the 1960s, but the comfort and reliability found in the
current Bond pictures more than makes up for the lack of creativity of
late. But this year saw the release of two Bond off-shoots, “The
Bourne Identity,” and “XXX” Both films have come to challenge
Bond for his spy crown, but blessedly, “Die Another Day” is closer
to the flawless fluidity of “Bourne” than the profound idiocy that
was “XXX.”
Director Lee Tamahori (“The Edge,” “Along Came A Spider”)
brings a rougher edge to the new Bond, even using the sacred opening
credits to detail the torture Bond undergoes at the hands of the North
Koreans - not a terribly sexy way to open the film! It signals a
slight change of pace for the series, with Tamahori, along with
screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, making little tonal changes
all over the picture for Bond‘s adventures. They instill a colder,
steely persona for Brosnan this time out, reminiscent of Connery’s
version of Bond. The story also takes Bond out of the cradle of MI-6,
leaving him to use his own wits to get him out of trouble for the
first half of the picture. This isn’t derailing material by any
standards, but it is baby steps away from the persistent familiarity
that has always kept the Bond pictures away from greatness, with the
exception of maybe three of the series’ twenty installments which
were of truly poor quality. Hell, to spice things up, the filmmakers
even find space for The Clash’s “London Calling” in the film.
“Die Another Day” isn’t quite as entertaining as 1999’s wacky
“The World Is Not Enough,” but it features an newfound integrity
in between all the expected nonsense that feels like a breath of cool
Colorado air in tired, weary lungs.
But fear not, dear fans, “Die Another Day” certainly retains
plenty of familiar elements for those resistant to change. There is a
terrific blustery performance by Toby Stephens as villain Gustav
Graves, some more fantastic set designs (including Graves’s dynamic
ice palace lair) by Bond regular Peter Lamont, a crafty theme song by
Madonna (who also cameos), explosions up the wazoo, a new batch of
gadgets (including an invisible car), and various feats of danger
performed by James Bond that deliciously fly in the face of physics.
Also expected from Bond is the bigger than life climax. Comprised
of explosions, CGI, and comeuppance, the third acts of Bond always
take place on a grand scale, but they also spoil the fun. “Die
Another Day” goes way overboard trying to outdo its rather calm
first two acts, and simply piles on the fire and the fury to make up
the difference. Up until this point, Tamahori has some fantastic and
understated staging for his action, including a scene where Graves and
Bond settle their differences with a vicious sword fight in the middle
of a refined private club - the film’s best scene. But with the
ending, all is lost, as the suspense is drowned out by all the noise,
typical for a Bond film. “Die Another Day” doesn’t need the
indulgence of pyro to resolve itself (along with those god awful
one-liners!), especially when Tamahori and the writers have shown an
interest throughout the film in getting Bond away from clichйs
and formula.
Back for his fourth appearance as Bond, Pierce Brosnan pulls ahead
of the pack in “Die Another Day.” He has the swagger of Connery,
the sex appeal of Lazenby, the comic timing of Moore, and the quiet
fierceness of Dalton. By encapsulating all the great attributes of the
past Bonds into his singular interpretation, Brosnan is the best thing
to happen to the series in some time. “Die Another Day” provides a
deeper dramatic thrust for Brosnan to sink his teeth into, and a
livelier supporting cast to work with. His scenes with Halle Berry
snap and pop with a rabid sexuality and mischievousness missing from
the last few installments. And even though I didn’t always care for
Berry’s silly “Foxy Brown” take on Jinx, Brosnan makes her look
good just by standing next to her. I hope he doesn’t quit the Bond
game any time soon.
The producers still have a long way to go, but “Die Another
Day” is a nice new step toward changing Bond back into his older,
tougher incarnations in a way that the audience won’t revolt over.
Grade: 8 out of 10
COMMENTS
Date/Time of Posting: Nov 28 2002 / 10:42:18
IP Address: 62.60.76.173
name = john
Email = www.TomJay@snowboard.com
comments = the best film i have ever seen!, great car great actors and
great gadgets!
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