First off, let me say that I think Pierce Brosnan makes a great Bond. Judi Dench does a great role as M and John Cleese is actually much better this time around, sans the comic relief elements of the previous film, as the new Q. I am also a fan (not of the rabid variety) of the Bond movies in general. This entry marks the 20th Bond film and marks a few anniversaries for the franchise. As films go, this one was not much to my liking. Halle Berry, while pretty and talented, just didn't fit in the customary 'Bond girl' role. It's painfully obvious that the producers are trying to create another franchise with Berry's 'Jinx' character. Unfortunately, I didn't find the character even remotely interesting. Jinx is simply a female soldier and definately lacks the 'special' part of being a special agent. I'll bet ya that you see a 00Jinx movie by 2005. The rest of the supporting cast is quite good, but much like Jinx, they are underused or misused. The most unique villain in the cast, Zao, is supposed to be a world-class bad guy, but we never see him do anything. At all. I think he throws a sucker punch at Bond in the beginning of the film and shoots at Bond from a car near the end but that's it. The film never establishes the reason that the main characters are supposed to harbor such animosity towards Zao. No Oddjob is he. He's just a cool-looking toadie (by Bond standards; and pun intended) with a lot of screen time and next to no impact on the plot. I actually felt that he was being picked on unfairly. As any afficianado knows, a hero is only as good as his villains and sadly the villains in Die Another Day are not that villainous. It might be an effort to not antagonize the general public due to the recent overreaction to terrorism and world events that make the villains so 'huggable' (I hope that's all it is). I wish the 'powers that be' would stop telling filmmakers what we moviegoers are "able to take" and just make some quality movies with some quality villains. Political correctness is ruining the film industry just as surely as it's destroying everything else. Speaking of plot, there isn't much. What plot there is is predictable and REMARKABLY similar to Goldeneye. You'll likely know the conclusion (and the 'big surprise') at about the 45 minute mark of this 2-hour film. Not that that's all bad, but you'd think they'd throw in a twist or two after 20 films. The action is outstanding. The stunts are neat. The CGI is silly (especially the parasurfing scene). There is a remarkably high level of annoying slow-motion and Matrix-style rotoscope scenes that are highly unnecessary. They don't show anything the viewer would miss at normal film speed or from the traditional framing angle. They are simply inserted into the film to meet Hollywood's bullet-time quota. It's annoying and distracting and adds nothing to the scenes involved. I look forward to Hollywood ending it's recent obsession with this camera technique. I'd say 8 out of 10 action scenes in Die Another Day have some unnecessary "Hey!Look what we can do with special effects technology!" moment. The gadgets in this film are fairly lame as well. The recently overused invisible vehicle is there along with the "what did that do again?" OO7 watch and an ultrasonic ring (the sole original gadget) that shatters bulletproof glass. Even the villains have little to work with. The big villain gadget is an electrical Nintendo controller glove the main bad guy uses to control the 'ultimate weapon' he has created. It also acts as a stun gun. Whee. I'm scared. Also of note is the soundtrack. The techno-pop chosen for this film is just "off". I think Madonna is responsible for the Cyndi Lauperish techno-trash that covers the opening an closing credits. It's not "timely" nor is it a tribute to current musical tastes. It's just "off". You'll no doubt know what I mean immediately when (and if) you see this film. The rest of the soundtrack is not much better. Different is not always an improvement. Give me more 'recycled' Bond music any day. Madonna's role in the film is brief and uneventful. I had heard there were some rumors her scenes would ruin the film. I don't think she even registered as being more significant than the bit part they gave her. Unless you're a Madonna fan, you might not even notice her. On the plus side, the set designers did an outstanding job with the Ice Palace where the end of the film takes place. It is really well-crafted and is the first Bond Set I would really like to have seen first hand (if such a thing ever existed outside of a matte-painter's imagination). I did bust out in inappropriate laughter when the thought "Sydney on Ice" popped into my head due to the Palace's resemblance to a rather famous building in Australia. All in all, this is a generic Bond film with few memorable moments or players. Consider it a placeholder in the Bond mythos if you will. There's enough here to entertain casual Bond fans and action film fans but overall, this movie just isn't scripted or directed well enough to entertain as previous Bond films have. You've likely already made up your mind whether you will see it or not, but if you are on the fence, you might do better to rent one of the older (better) bond films and save Die Another Day for when it comes out for rental or goes into the inevitable heavy cable rotation.
Review of Die Another Day
