Film Review of Die Another Day
Year: 2002 Reviewer: Chris Docker
I went to see the latest Bond - Die Another Day last night and have to sheepishly admit I quite enjoyed it.
I personally liked the opening sequence that gives us a frantic hovercraft chase, Brosnan being tortured by scorpions, and surreal mtv-style opening credits to go with Madonna's theme song. The website also has a good Madonna music video, with elements stolen from the film and re-hashed to feature Madonna. Concentrate on what people are good at, was maybe the motto of esteemed Director Lee (Once Were Warriors, Along Came a Spider, Mulholland Falls) Tamahori. Madonna's acting presence is wisely kept down to a cameo appearance where she looks every bit her age and not very charismatic.
As current spy-chase-caper movies go, Die Another Day isn't bad. Dedicated 007 fans will hearken back to the days when we saw real stunts instead of CGIs (some of the present special effects are poorer than could be achieved with less adventurous but more realistic live action). But this is very much a give-'em-what-they-expect movie and the plot (which takes a while to twist and turn to its cliche ending), script (classic 'Bond-style' one-liners that are more self-referential than new), babes (Halle Berry is very modern day and at-home in super-hero movies), and a star-studded cast add up to an enjoyable movie night. People who want depth have got a bit of a cheek expecting it from a Bond movie after all.
The weakest point of the film, for me, was Pierce Brosnan who, at almost 50, hardly looks capable of the sustained action with which the special effects credit him. Vin Diesel set a hard act to follow as the realistically fit action-hero spy in XXX, and Matt Damon gave us the intelligent intelligence-agent in Bourne Identity. Austin Powers has set the standard for out-and-out comedy. The attraction of Bond has been very much a fantasy world where people drink martinis, dress impeccably and do lots of fun dangerous things, all with a British, or especially English, nonchalance. Connery carried it off well as he has tremendous presence, a passable acting ability in set roles, and a Scottish accent to add a bit of spice. Brosnan is something of a stuffed shirt by comparison, his Irishness is never optimised and his idea of being an English gentleman type is undermined by a story that is heavily Americanised. His limited acting skills are well-covered by surrounding him with Oscar-winning actors Judi Dench and Halle Berry, not to mention the here very capable John Cleese and tough-looking Michael Madsen. It would appear Brosnan aspires to be playing James Bond for as long as he can rather than scaling any great acting heights (and there's nothing wrong with that - he's delivering a product that is repeatedly successful by all mainstream commercial standards).
It's not a film that would pull me out to the cinema over and above curiosity but it's better than I expected for all that. I suppose my ideal Bond movie would be made by someone like Michael Mann - but then again he might expect a certain degree of artistic control, which studios and licensees will be reluctant to grant where a £142m dollar movie is concerned. Balancing that sort of money on a knife edge is not left to chance if studios can help it - even to the extent of cutting 12 minutes of Halle-get-yer-kit-off for an American optimum film-censor certification. It's a testament to Berry that she brings life to such dumb lines as "Well that's a mouth full!" (after being given Bond's full name and glancing at his crotch). The sadness is that the original Bond character still has the potential to be the basis of a really memorable movie - intellectually engaging, brilliant characterisation, a movie for adults, basically. It would cost a fraction of the present Bond budgets to make. But what right have film fans to expect this when they are so outnumbered by moviegoers? Accept Die Another Day on its own terms, gadgets and all, and you'll have a fun family night out at the pictures.
Rating: 6/10
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