Die Another Day
Directed by: Lee
Tamahori
Starring: Pierce Brosnan as Bond, James Bond;
Halle Berry as Jinx; John Cleese as Q; Judi Dench as M; Rick
Yune as Zao; Rosamund Pike as Miranda Frost
Written by: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade
Produced
by: Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson
Reviews by : Eric
Barker Matt McConnel
Review
by Eric Barker
After being captured and tortured during a mission
to North Korea, British secret agent James Bond must turn
renegade in order to prove his trustworthiness.
Featuring
Pierce Brosnan’s best turn yet as 007, and Halle Berry
as a mysterious American counterpart to the original super
spy, Die Another Day has the power to seduce both
fans and non-fans of the series into thinking the magic has
returned. For almost ninety minutes, this film recaptures
the spirit of witty invention and good old storytelling basics
that made Ian Fleming’s novels into bestsellers, and
the first several Bond films into surprise box-office blockbusters.
But then,
it’s as if the pressure of so much restraint, for so
many minutes, threatened to give the producers a panic attack
and they jumped for the phone and ordered the director to
make Die Another Day collapse in a flood of laughable,
impossible stunts, bad visual effects, and endless, mind-numbing
climaxes that go on...and on...and on...
As a friend
of mine says, endings are hard.
Endings
are hard because, whether comedy or drama, action or romance,
the ending is what the story is about, like it or not. Sooner
or later the filmmakers must choose a finale and craft it
to fit the rest of the script, or the rest of the film, whichever
comes first. But it is best to do several drafts and make
everything dovetail together, before a camera rolls.
Die
Another Day is at least two distinct movies (maybe more).
The first movie, enormously entertaining and comprising two
whole dramatic acts, tries mightily to suspend disbelief,
restore an impressive element of suspense, and place the franchise
back in the hands of a charismatic leading man, a couple of
clever screenwriters, and a director with a sensual feel for
reality. But that other movie -- you know the one, the Producer’s
Movie, the Formula Bond which has dominated the series for
so long no one remembers what life was like without it --
that movie lurks in the wings from the very beginning, occasionally
making itself known in unbelievable gadgets (oh, an invisible
car, that‘s cutting edge) and unnecessary pyrotechnics
(explosives for the opening chase must have been worth the
entire budget of Dr. No, 1962), until at last someone lets
loose the Beast of Excess. Totally by accident, I’m
sure.
There
is still much to recommend this Bond over many that have come
before. Pierce Brosnan really does make the role his own now,
and it’s about time ads started proclaiming that he
IS James Bond, as they did for his predecessors. He’s
ruthless, resourceful, sexy, gracefully athletic, murderous
if he has to be (but only with very bad people), well-informed
on gastronomic esoterica, and hell with a wise-ass remark.
As the
most successful actor in the role since Sean Connery, Brosnan
has also exerted a great deal of influence in bringing back
other aspects of Ian Fleming’s original creation, insisting
that Bond be humanized even when he is not on screen. In one
of this film’s most satisfying bits, fellow agent Miranda
Frost (the lovely Rosamund Pike) describes Bond as a tactless,
blunt instrument that should only be used as a last resort.
She means it as a criticism, but the boss (Dame Judi Dench
in her fourth appearance as “M,”) merely smiles
and agrees, reviving one of the essential ingredients of Bond’s
world that has been missing for too long from the films --
namely, the mutual respect that exists between 007 and his
superior officer.
Brosnan’s
indelible presence is matched in Die Another Day,
not by the super villain, which was the old-school-Fleming
approach, but by Halle Berry, 007’s first Oscar-winning
leading lady and perhaps the most surprising Bond Girl of
them all. Berry moves through this film like a breeze of tangy
originality, playing a deadly secret agent with the same taste
for the fast life, and the inappropriate quip in moments of
danger, as our hero. The character has been tried before in
various incarnations, with Fiona in Thunderball (1966)
and Anya in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), but never
this effectively.
John Cleese
makes his second appearance as the armorer “Q,”
and he’s the perfect replacement for Desmond Llewelyn,
who created the role over a span of 18 Bond movies and 36
years. We can only hope the producers will pay Mr. Cleese
whatever he asks to continue coming back; he and Brosnan have
a fine chemistry and, as one of the funniest men alive on
the planet, he gives the film an extra touch of class.
Finally,
the music score by David Arnold is the best in decades, working
constant dramatic variations on John Barry’s original
“James Bond Theme” (see Notes). The title song
by Madonna is a colorless, artless throwaway, as all Bond
title tunes have been since Octopussy (1983), but
the main score is excellent, adding to the sense that the
producers have not entirely forgotten how to make a good movie.
Now, if
only they can only remember the difference between implausible
and downright insulting,...
Notes:
IAN WHO?
Last time Bond creator Ian Fleming received a screen credit:
GoldenEye, 1996.
WHERE
THE BUCK STOPS: Producer Barbara Broccoli is the daughter
of series co-founder Albert “Cubby” Broccoli.
She has supervised all four of the Brosnan films, but she
began learning the family business as an executive assistant
on Octopussy. She was 2 years old when the first
Bond movie premiered. Her partner Michael G. Wilson is her
step-brother by her father’s third marriage. Born in
1943, Michael was an extra in Goldfinger (1964) and
has held an executive position on every Bond film since The
Spy Who Loved Me. He co-wrote the script of For Your
Eyes Only (1981).
I NEVER
JOKE ABOUT MY WORK, DOUBLE-O-SEVEN: This is the 40th anniversary
Bond movie, and the 20th film from Cubby Broccoli’s
Danjaq Productions. As such, cast and crew put considerable
effort into peppering the film with references to the previous
nineteen extravaganzas, from 1962 onward. Some of the best
include: Berry’s bathing suit entrance, wearing a copy
of Ursula Andress’ Dr. No outfit; the entire repartee
between Q and Bond, a collage of similar scenes through the
ages; and a high altitude depressurization sequence straight
out of Goldfinger.
THE RAZZLE
AND THE DAZZLE: The opening title sequence is the most original
and eye-popping since Live and Let Die (1973), full
of frightening, surreal imagery, and the first in the series
to attempt moving the plot forward.
FREUD
WINKS: casting “M” as a woman is not so far from
the original intention as it first appears. “M”
was also Ian Fleming’s nickname for his mother.
BOND’S
PULSE: Composer John Barry wrote the “James Bond Theme”
in 1962, after Monty Norman had already completed the score
for Dr. No and left the film. Norman’s contract, however,
stipulated that his name would go on all the music and so
he continues to be billed, rather ludicrously, as the sole
creator of the piece. Meanwhile, Mr. Barry won the gig: he
wrote the scores for 11 subsequent Bond movies.
WHATEVER
SHE WANTS: Madonna lobbied successfully for a cameo in the
film, the first Bond songwriter to do so. Her appearance is
as forgettable as her song.
INFLATION
ALERT:
Budget
for the first James Bond movie, Dr. No: $950,000.
Budget
for Die Another Day: $142,000,000.
Review
by Matt McConnel
Bond is back, and he brought Halle Berry with him. Die
Another Day is one in the same an interesting blend of
nostalgic Bond imagery, and innovation. The usual martinis,
girls, and guns abound, so there is no drastic change to the
formula, this time it is a megalomaniacal diamond smuggler
who controls a device that can channel the sun's light and
heat to Earth, but I digress. In short, it seems that after
a few stumbles, namely the Bond Hong Kong of Tomorrow Never
Dies, and the nuclear physicist Barbie in World Is
Not Enough, Bond is back on his feet. Pity it will likely
be Bronson's last outing.
This is
not to say that Die Another Day is all that and the
kitchen sink. One word: Madonna. If the re-mix at the end
credits sounds better than the opening song, then you have
got a problem. Her cameo too is less than something that is
watchable, and is made only bearable by the stunning swordfight
that follows. I am a fencer myself, and let me assure you
that it is just about every fencer's dream played out on the
screen. No less than five different types of swords are used
in the fight, and it looks so pretty.
Speaking
of pretty. Halle Berry as the NSA operative (they have operatives?)
'Jinx', and Rosamund Pike as Miranda Frost, and Samantha Bond
(yes, that is her real name) as Moneypenny are all delicious.
And it is not just the ladies, the guys two are hunk-a-hunk-a.
Rick Yune of Fast And The Furious fame is delightfully
diabolical as the villainous Zao, but he is just the goon.
The main bad guy has a twist to him, and no he is not Blofeld's
son or anything, but the character is well-developed by the
end. He is not an idealist, he is not after money, he is just
that freaking nuts.
It is
hard to describe the movie and not give too much away, what
I can say is that there are some chances taken that I did
not expect. There is a reference to terrorists being just
another term for freedom fighter, and while this is true,
it does not fit the black/white paradigm that Bond lives in.
However, while the world around him is grey, he is still the
knight in slightly tarnished armor, and we love him for it.
The charm
is classic Bond mixed with new goodies. There is heavy imagery
from Goldfinger, Thunderball, Dr. No,
and even the villain parachuting in ala Spy Who Loved Me.
While there is a lot of reliance on these vintage devices,
not to mention the gadget devices, the innovation is clear.
From the opening credits on it is clear that this is a very
different animal, but still a Bond movie.
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