It is with great hesitation that I state my almost unabashed love for Die Another Day. It was the first Bond film I ever saw and remains as magical an experience watching it at the age of nineteen as it did when I viewed it at the mere age of seven.
James Bond is not the agent he used to be, age apparently has taken its toll. That and the inconvenience of being locked up in prison in North Korea for eighteen months. Bond has been betrayed by an insider; his search leads him to a wealthy international celebrity Gustav Graves to see what his Icarus space program is.
Perhaps it is best to start off with Die Another Day's flaws and get them out of the way as swiftly as possible. Halle Berry never suits the role of a Bond girl well. Granted she is far more believable than Denis Richards, but that's not exactly a Grande feat anyway is it? The trouble with Jinx is the way the character is written into the story. She homages the famous shot of Honey Ryder coming out of the sea and yet does not come close to giving the great performance that Ursula Andress does in Dr No. Berry just does not say her lines right and ends up overcooking them until they lose their power much like she continues to do in the X-Men franchise.
This is more of a slight niggle than anything substantial, but Die Another Day does favour CGI far more than practical stunts and effects work; prime examples of this crop into the second half of the film. The laser fight sequence and the tsunami surfing Bond take things one step too far.
Alas, let me stop giving fuel to the fire and focus on everything that Die Another Day does right. Pierce Brosnan is truly phenomenal and I am running out of adjectives to describe his performances in these films. Nobody does it better than Brosnan that much will always be certain.
The set pieces are endlessly inventive from the hover board sequence in North Korea to a sword fight gone wildly out of control against the irritable Gustav Graves. It must be said that the first hour of Die Another Day is more in keeping with the traditional style of the franchise. I wonder whether this was an intentional choice by Director Lee Tamahori. As the second half is Bond with the instruction manual torn to shreds. Invisible cars! Multiple lasers! Enhanced plastic surgery! For many this is where the film loses itself amid the chaos of CGI effects. For me it is where Die Another Day breaks free from tradition and has a new found spring in its step. Who cares whether the plot does not make the slightest bit of sense? This is Bond at his most thrilling, unhinged and gloriously gadget based. As Q states with Bond's new car "Aston Martin call it the Vanquish, we call it the Vanish". Even Bond expresses his praise "Oh very good". Much of the last hour takes place in Iceland with an Ice Palace being the main attraction here.
Gustav Graves makes for a dazzling villain (not sparkling, that attribute belongs to the diamond studded Zao). Being as cocksure as he is, it is cathartic when Bond takes his revenge upon the villainous schemer. Miranda Frost is a tricky Bond girl to get a measure of. But she sure is one of the highlights of Die Another Day and in all honesty that means a lot.
Die Another Day is not for everyone. It's ultimately too reliant on CGI work that does not mesh together well with the rest of the film. But it is packed with memorable scenes, fast and thrilling action and enough gadgets to make sure that it dodges the last few hurdles and sprints across the finish line. Even if it is an exhausting film, it sure is unconventional and discards the rule book when it comes to Bond. In the end Die Another Day is more than worth the risks it takes with the franchise.
James Bond is not the agent he used to be, age apparently has taken its toll. That and the inconvenience of being locked up in prison in North Korea for eighteen months. Bond has been betrayed by an insider; his search leads him to a wealthy international celebrity Gustav Graves to see what his Icarus space program is.
Perhaps it is best to start off with Die Another Day's flaws and get them out of the way as swiftly as possible. Halle Berry never suits the role of a Bond girl well. Granted she is far more believable than Denis Richards, but that's not exactly a Grande feat anyway is it? The trouble with Jinx is the way the character is written into the story. She homages the famous shot of Honey Ryder coming out of the sea and yet does not come close to giving the great performance that Ursula Andress does in Dr No. Berry just does not say her lines right and ends up overcooking them until they lose their power much like she continues to do in the X-Men franchise.
This is more of a slight niggle than anything substantial, but Die Another Day does favour CGI far more than practical stunts and effects work; prime examples of this crop into the second half of the film. The laser fight sequence and the tsunami surfing Bond take things one step too far.
Alas, let me stop giving fuel to the fire and focus on everything that Die Another Day does right. Pierce Brosnan is truly phenomenal and I am running out of adjectives to describe his performances in these films. Nobody does it better than Brosnan that much will always be certain.
The set pieces are endlessly inventive from the hover board sequence in North Korea to a sword fight gone wildly out of control against the irritable Gustav Graves. It must be said that the first hour of Die Another Day is more in keeping with the traditional style of the franchise. I wonder whether this was an intentional choice by Director Lee Tamahori. As the second half is Bond with the instruction manual torn to shreds. Invisible cars! Multiple lasers! Enhanced plastic surgery! For many this is where the film loses itself amid the chaos of CGI effects. For me it is where Die Another Day breaks free from tradition and has a new found spring in its step. Who cares whether the plot does not make the slightest bit of sense? This is Bond at his most thrilling, unhinged and gloriously gadget based. As Q states with Bond's new car "Aston Martin call it the Vanquish, we call it the Vanish". Even Bond expresses his praise "Oh very good". Much of the last hour takes place in Iceland with an Ice Palace being the main attraction here.
Gustav Graves makes for a dazzling villain (not sparkling, that attribute belongs to the diamond studded Zao). Being as cocksure as he is, it is cathartic when Bond takes his revenge upon the villainous schemer. Miranda Frost is a tricky Bond girl to get a measure of. But she sure is one of the highlights of Die Another Day and in all honesty that means a lot.
Die Another Day is not for everyone. It's ultimately too reliant on CGI work that does not mesh together well with the rest of the film. But it is packed with memorable scenes, fast and thrilling action and enough gadgets to make sure that it dodges the last few hurdles and sprints across the finish line. Even if it is an exhausting film, it sure is unconventional and discards the rule book when it comes to Bond. In the end Die Another Day is more than worth the risks it takes with the franchise.