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Die Another Day (November 24, 2002)
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 clichés 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.
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