(An ice palace? Really? If things get, uh, heated in the bedrooms, does the place melt?)
CAST: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike, Rick Yune, John Cleese, Judi Dench, Colin Salmon, Madonna.
DIRECTOR: Lee Tamahori
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and one seriously PlayStation-inspired Bond flick - straight ahead…
IT’S LIKE THIS: Someone decided that THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, the last Bond flick before this one, was too deep with its ruthless villainess with a Daddy complex and short-shorted nuclear physicist who is actually pretty smart - so they foisted this concoction on us: James Bond goes to North Korea on a mission and finally gets captured. No, folks. You didn’t read that wrong. After 20 or so movies, Bond finally gets caught by the baddies and can’t escape. About 14 months later, looking like a hippie with his long hair and beard, Bond is released - and strikes out to uncover who betrayed him. Let’s just say that over a year in solitude has not mellowed him out. Watch out.
THE DUDE (AND DUDETTE) MOST LIKELY TO SAVE THE DAY: Our boy Bond, with the welcome assist of the mysterious American called Jinx Johnson (Halle Berry), who is blissfully unaware of the fact that her name basically translates to “Unlucky Penis”. Or is Jinx actually a baddie? Is Bond’s fellow MI-6 agent Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike) the real heroine?
EYE CANDY MOST LIKELY TO FIRE UP A WOODY: Pierce B. looks good in this film considering he’s about 465 years old. But he’s not the sweetest eye candy walking around. Toby Stephens as bad guy Gustav Graves is not bad, and fills out a fencing outfit very nicely. But, again, the award must go to the ladies. Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike are like world’s most scrumptious Dark Chocolate/White Chocolate gift basket. Whoever wrote this script must have clearly appreciated their combined hotness because he added a nice little catfight between Jinx and Miranda at the end. Meow, bitches…
MOST HAIR-RAISING SCENE: Two, but for the wrong reasons: (1) Bond escapes Graves’ space-laser-beam (don’t ask) as it chases him across an ice field, forcing him to jump off a cliff and use a skidoo shield and two parachutes to surf the melting glacier waves (I said, don’t ask) in a sequence that looks less realistic than a third-rate PlayStation game; and (2) Bond and Jinx flirting at the beach in Cuba - but with Brosnan’s aging playboy looks and Berry’s short hair and androgynously youthful pretty features, it all plays like a skeezy episode of TO CATCH A PREDATOR. Eeeew.
HOTTEST SCENE: Miranda casually dropping her gown in front of Bond. All part of a day’s job, eh, Miranda?
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW: Will Bond find out who betrayed him in North Korea? Or will he die in the process? Who is the traitor? Graves? His sidekick Zao? Someone else? Someone closer to Bond? Is it Jinx? What is she up to anyway? And why do she and Miranda hate each other? Can’t they settle their differences in a big nude oil wrestling scene? Please?
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH “DIE ANOTHER DAY”: If you love video games, this is the Bond flick for you - it‘s full of explosions and chases and… more explosions. Halle Berry is pretty sexy as Jinx and Rosamund Pike is no slouch in the beauty department, either. Madonna’s song, contrary to popular notion, is actually pretty decent.
WHY YOU MAY NOT ENJOY “DIE ANOTHER DAY”: If you like your action films and Bond flicks to be fairly down-to-Earth (like THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and CASINO ROYALE), then DIE ANOTHER DAY may be the equivalent of someone allergic to strawberries downing an entire crate of the red stuff. Steer clear, if so.
FINAL ANALYSIS: For the first half of DIE ANOTHER DAY, the action is relatively low-key and believable. As soon as the action moves to Iceland and Gustav’s palace, though, this movie abruptly switches tone from the restrained to the extravagant. All the Fleming-esque flavor of the first act essentially goes out the window and is replaced by a special effects parade. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing - just surprising. As with most other Bond films, you really have to suspend your disbelief about many of the plot threads (Gustav’s true identity, his secret weapon, and his ultimate goal) or you might as well not bother watching the film. I’ve vacillated back and forth with DIE ANOTHER DAY, my initial enjoyment of it in theatres waning with the release of stronger fare like CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE, and also because of comparisons to past films like THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and GOLDENEYE. In the end, though, you have to go with how you felt you when you first saw it - and I loved DIE ANOTHER DAY at the time. So this review is based on my initial reaction to it.
The cast is uniformly good. Brosnan has made the role second-nature by now, and even invests the character with a little darkness. Berry wisely keeps Jinx a light character without sacrificing her lethality. It’s an interesting combo which mirrors Bond’s own personality. Rosamund Pike is perfection as the icy Miranda Frost whose loyalties are shrouded in mystery. Toby Stephens matches his co-stars scene for scene as the main villain, and is one handsome guy. Nice to see a younger actor playing the baddie this time.
The action setpieces are good, but could’ve used a little trimming. There’s one too many sequences. Finally, Madonna’s title song is the a welcome change from the usual Bond themes - chilly, spare, and effective.
In the end, DIE ANOTHER DAY may not rank among the best of the Bond films, but it is still an enjoyable - if highly implausible - adventure. Then again, it’s the Bond world.
