Die Another Day (12)

Die Another Day - I've seen all the Bond movies since the Sean Connery era, not because I'm such a fan, but because they are quite entertaining movies, with beautiful girls, great cars, a lot of action and so on.

"Die Another Day" was advertised as the best Bond movie ever, so I thought it might be something special. That's why I've bought the DVD, so I can watch it in the "tranquility" of my Home Theatre Sytem and really enjoy. And, unfortunately, I was a little bit (more) disappointed with what I've seen. Why? I'll explain it to you as follows:

First of all, the movie starts with Bond being captured by a North Korean army general and tortured for 14 months. Despite the fact he was nearly beaten to death, he has no bruises, nothing, only a big beard which suggests us he has been in prison for quite a while. It's quite unusual for Bond being captured by enemy and kept for so long. So I thought, "hmmm, might be quite an interesting movie". After these 14 months, Bond is traded to the British/Americans for a Korean (North) agent called Zao. Americans think Bond revealed important data under torture (as an American agent in Korea was killed one week before Bond was traded), so our poor Bond is named "traitor". And now, what can Mr.Bond do to "wash" his name? Only to find Mr. Zao and the person who betrayed him (yes, he was betrayed by somebody in the MI5 headqurters!!). So, he hunts down Zao and this hunt takes him to different places on Earth, like Havana, where he meets an agent (played by Halle Berry) and gets into bed with her the same night. Some clues make him think that the "diamonds" king Gustav Graves has something to do with it. I don't want to reveal the end of the movie, because there is no point in doing so, as some readers did not watch the movie yet. So I'll let you discover by yourself the end (which is, by the way, a happy ending, as Mr. Bond never dies, he successfully saves the world from the paranoic-maniac who develops a fearfully incredible laser and threatens to destroy all the his enemies - his enemies being America and England, and, in the end, stays with his gorgeous woman).

Now about the movie:

- Pierce Brosnan seems to be quite bored with this role, I was expecting him to be more fresh.

- The songs from the movie are not as good as before (where is "The Goldenye" by Tina Turner??).

- The bad guys are the dullest I've ever seen in a Bond movie, they don't have that "bad" thing which makes them real BAD.

- There is the same old "advertising" in the movie (the car is an Aston Martin Vanquish vs Jaguar XK5, the watch is Swiss-made, he flies with British Airways, and so on).

- I must admit the car chase on the ice is quite good, it is the first time in a Bond movie when the bad guy has a "gadgets-full" car and fights Bond with the same weapons.

- There are some new things in the movie: a hovercraft chase, Bond being captured for so long, a "mole" at MI5, etc., but these do not save the movie from its "dusty" atmosphere, as you can't expect people to see the same thing again and again. (and again)

As a conclusion, I honestly regret I bought the DVD, it's not worth the money. Even the movie has all the Bond ingredients (women, cars, bad guys, etc.), it doesn't have that "wow" factor which makes it a MOVIE.

And something else for you to observe when you watch the movie. They tried to recreate some old scenes from Bond movies: Halle Berry in the water as Ursula Andress in the famous Dr. No scene or when Mr. Bond is being shown some old Bond gadgets in the old tube station. Is not the same, by far!!

It is enjoyable as a movie, but definitively not the best Bond movie!!

Die Another Day is a very good film, with a few bad points. The plot was great, the 007 humour was still intact and the locations were excellent. But there was no crucial James Bond features. There was little James Bond charm and the gadgets were too futuristic. I wouldn't expect to see an invisible car in a James Bond film now! Also the title song is poor, it's too weak. But every other aspect of the film were excellent.

Like Manchester United or a favourite pop star James Bond has a lot of fans. People have been going to see these films for forty years and they are some of the most popular films in history.

The decline of James Bond is almost physical in it's painfulness.

Once they were soaring stars, completely untouchable and in a league of their own for 30 years. A night out watching a 007 flick was guaranteed good entertainment. You knew that they were proffessionally done - production values would be good, the girls beautiful, a few good one-liners, intrigueingly sinister villains and locations that you wish you could visit on holiday next year.

But no more...

I'm sorry but is time to pull the plug on 007. His films have become a travesty. I'd like to put those responsible in the dock for such a crime.

"Will the accused please stand..."

producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Two examples of nepotism going horribly wrong.

Since "Goldeneye" I have been waiting for the decline to be reversed. "Goldeneye" needed to be what it was a spectacular comeback for the secret agent but it worked because memories were still fresh of how Broccoli used to make them. His influence could still be felt. The filmakers still made the time to take care over the characters and plot. But the director was replaced for the next one "Tomorrow Never Dies" and James Bond was seen running around a submarine blasting with a machine gun - very unbondian - but still the acton didn't detract from the story. It's successor was the lamentable "World is Not Enough" which I think beats "Casino Royale" and "Never Say Never Again" to the title of worst Bond film ever made. In their attempts to stay cool and hip for the MTV generation the editing, cutting and direction made the movie and unqualified mess. And so with "Die Another Day"

"Call witnesses for the defence.."

There are some enjoyable aspects of "Die Another Day" namely the superstar Pierce Brosnan. I think it is generally now recognised that he is a classic James Bond up there with Connery and Moore. Unfortunately they have given him such lousy films. Brosnan is the epitome of cool and is a superb physical actor. Watch the way he aquits himself in the fight scene's especially the fencing match at Blades. And he has a quality that all James Bonds should have but don't - natural sexiness. This is definitely one of his better ones and he gives his all. He can act as seen in the scene where M visits him in the hospital in Hong Kong. His playing of humour is superb as well and they haven't given him as many corny lines as the last one. Brosnan is the natural lovechild of Moore and Dalton.

Halle Berry as Jinx is also quite good. I know she irritated alot of people, and I agree with Lord Lucan she should take lessons from Barbara Bach of how to be a competitive match for James in style and humour. Her delivery of lines is never very witty or funny. Alot of people also decried her equal billing with James Bond. That's fine. Women go to see these films as well and they don't want to see a bimbo on his arm crying "Oooh James.." all the time, they want to be James Bond with fast cars and gadgets. And that is what she is.

However, lay off the homage to Ursula Andress. The films should be creating great moments not harking back to them.

Other aspects are of course Judi Dench, John Cleese and Samantha Bond as the MI6 stalwarts. Dench seems bored or perhaps just was lazily directed by Tamahori. I liked the abandoned Vauxhall Cross station house where rogue agents are holed up and 007's scenes with Cleese were very enjoyable. Even the invisible Aston wasn't too ridiculous as I always enjoy a little flight into fantasy. And Moneypennys virtual reality joke at the end nearly stole the film.

The whole of Cuba was good and it was good to see abit of local exotic colour. Iceland was a spectacular location and very Bondian and I rather liked the Ice Palace. And a word of note must go to the superb fencing match between Bond and Graves. There are good moments in "Die Another Day" but not enough to save it.

"Call witnesses for the prosecution..."

In the Cubby Broccoli days the James Bond films were the main employment opportunities for the stuntmen of Pinewood studios. He would say "I need someone to ski off that cliff" or "drive a bus under a narrow bridge.." and the stuntman would derive a way of doing it. Nowadays, we have cgi - oh deary deary me...

There are some scenes in DAD that are so bad in their cgi that you want to run for the exit. The now infamous surf stunt with the cgi tidal wave coming after him was bad enough. But the plane coming apart at the end was terrible and please do not get me started on the cgi cliff that the dragstar dangled from. Broccoli would have actually gone out and found a location like that. Please do not let the Bonds go down the "Phantom Menace" road where cgi dominates to the exclusion of everything else.

Also there was so much borrowed from previous films - the escape from the crashing plane in a helicoptor was so close to the end of "The Living Daylights" where Bond and Kara shoot out of the back of an Antonov in a jeep. People being sucked out of plane windows was done more effectively in "Goldfinger" and Jinxs' first appearance was a direct steal from the classic scene from "Dr No". Come on boys - be original.

The villains:-

There is a politician in Britain called Jeffry Archer. The man is a crooked businessmen and Tory MP with a sneering countenance and a flair for publicity. He is currently in prison for perjury. Every time I looked at Gustav Graves I was reminded of him. To be truthful this was a villain with the menace of Winnie the Pooh. I've never seen so much over the top sneering since the last time I watched an Alan Rickman film. But there was absolutely no menace there. And the fact that he doesn't need any sleep is mean't to put him amongst the classic villains such as Blofeld and Dr No - I don't think so. Was it the Californian scriptwriters idea to make him so obnoxious and British. Were we mean't to be irritated by Gustav Graves rather then fear him?

Rosamunde Pike as Miranda Frost is a little better but utterly forgettable. A double agent who sells James Bond to the Koreans and Gustav Graves. Ms Pike is an attractive actress and her fencing scenes were good - but I just couldn't find her interesting. It was a dull role.

Zao could have been a terrific villain if a little more care had been taken with him. The henchman are usually seen at work to prove their wickedness before encountering Bond. And they gave Zao the motivation to hate Bond i.e diamonds encrusted in his face. But they did nothing with him, so when it came to the big climactic duel between two gadget-filled sports cars - you lost interest in what could happen. Colonel Zao was alot of lost potential.

And could someone explain to me the business with Graves, Zao and his North Korean general father. Why did Graves kill his own father - a reknowned General in the North Korean army in a scene that was baffling in it's complexity.

Lee Tamahoris direction.

This was as messy, jarring and disorientating as a car crash. Let's forget about his ignoring of the actors for the moment. Tamahori was commissioned as he is an action director. Never mind the arguments that the Bonds wern't just action films but relied on human interaction as well - Tamahoris forte was the action. There is no doubt that alot of it is spectacular but his instruction from the producers were to up the ante to make it more exciting. The direction therefore goes toofast and doesn't allow the audience to follow the story. The editing is even worse, the cuts are too short so that large chunks of the story are hard to follow. The producers knew about the story, but the audiences were being left behind. Explosions and gunfire for their own sake do not make a good film.

"Ladies and gentleman of the jury how do you find the defendants..."

Well, that's for the public to decide. There is no denying that it has made alot of money but if you listen to the audiences leaving the cinema there are alot of disgruntled people out there. They have grown up with Bond and can't seem to kick the habit and pay their money each time a new one comes out. But the public seems to be losing confidence with each effort which comes out. It may be time to retire with honour soon. Thanks for memories 007.

If the verdict is "not guilty" then James Bond will return to "Die Another Day". If the verdict is "guilty" then the producers should be thrown into Blofelds piranha pool forthwith.

We are watching a great institution in decline...

I am not usually a fan of James Bond. However, it seems as though this film has scared off all opposition, leaving nothing better to watch this week. It is also a very girlfriend friendly film.

The pre-title sequence is full of surprises. Gone is the traditional successful mission and daring escape. In a break from convention we see Bond betrayed and thrown into a North Korean prison. Bond is then brutally tortured as the Madonna theme song kicks in. 14 months later MI6 set up a prisoner exchange, handing over Zao, a major terrorist, with a diamond encrusted face.

MI6 then turn their backs on Bond whose only choice is to go after Zao as a rogue agent.

He tracks him to a clinic where he is undergoing genetic therapy to change his face. Not as unbelievable as it sounds as this kind of thing will apparently be a real possibility in the near future. This is where he meets tough U.S agent Jinx (Berry) one of the best Bond girls for some time, who hops straight into bed with the sexually frustrated Bond. (14 months at least) The love scene is appropriately passionate.

The plot involving diamond smuggling doesn't really matter, after all this is a Bond film. The head bad guy is Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), a North Korean who is now a white businessman thanks to the same therapy used on Zao. He is an unimposing and weak villain that has no sense of menace. Thankfully Bond gives him a good beating in what starts off as a friendly sword fight. A great scene, which also makes up for the pointless Madonna cameo moments before.

MI6 eventually make up with Bond, primarily to annoy the CIA. This means he gets tooled up with gadgets as well as an invisible Aston martin! (Very disappointed the line "now where did I leave my car?" wasn't used.) He is also informed about the undercover agent Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike) who is posing as Graves' PR girl. As her name suggests she is an ice-cold agent who refuses to be taken in by Bonds charm. The favourites are all here too, although perhaps in smaller doses than before. Both M (Dench) and Q (Cleese) have really settled into their roles and make the most of limited screen time. There is also a hilarious scene with Money penny and a virtual reality machine. The rest is top form Bond, with impossible stunts, crazy fight sequences, cheesy one liners and gorgeous women.

A nice addition to the franchise, that shows a grittier side to the character. Turn off your brain and enjoy yourself, this is a wonderful Bond extravaganza with enough of a twist to keep it fresh.

James Bond : Die Another Day is a good movie and i would recommend anyone to go and see it as they would enjoy it.