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James Bond's newest mission begins with a high-speed hovercraft chase
through a minefield in the demilitarized zone separating North and South
Korea - which leads to his capture and a 14-month period of torture. Finally
released, Bond circles the world from Hong Kong through Cuba to London in his
quest to unmask the traitor responsible for setting him up. On his way he crosses paths with
Jinx (Halle Berry), a CIA agent who is in pursuit of the same person.
The trail leads to a deadly megalomaniac named Gustav Graves (Toby
Stephens) and his ruthless right-hand man, Zao (Rick Yune). Bond travels to
Iceland into the villain's lair - a palace built entirely of ice. There he
experiences firsthand the power of a new hi-tech weapon. Ultimately it all
leads back to Korea, where it all started.
Die Another Day, the twentieth film in the James Bond franchise,
certainly starts off well enough. The first thirty minutes is exciting and
has a few nice variations on the film series' formula. For a while, it looks
as if director Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors) and screenwriters
Robert Wade and Neil Purvis were allowed to experiment and perhaps take the
aging franchise into new and exciting directions.
Then comes the rest of the film. When the action leaves Cuba and shifts
back to London, where Gustav Graves is introduced, the film loses its edge
and becomes your Standard Bond Film. Now, there's nothing wrong with that -
I for one happen to love the series. The problem that plagues this one is that
Die Another Day becomes too reliant on the stunts, the gadgets, some
really bad visual effects (a parasailing scene with Bond may be some of the
worst effects put to film in a decade) and action sequences that are rather
pedestrian.
Brosnan once again shows that he's the best Bond since Sean Connery,
erasing comparisons between him and previous 007s once and for all. Berry
does a decent job as Jinx, but the screenplay never develops her character
enough. It also doesn't spark up any sort of romantic heat between her and
Bond. Tobey Stephens is decent hamming it up as Graves, while Rick Yune is
much more impressive as the creepy Zao. Rosamund Pike is certainly stunning
to look at, but her Miranda Frost winds up amounting to just being eye candy
with an accent (once again, thank the script).
Die Another Day marks James Bond's 40th anniversary as a cinema
icon, showing signs of promise here and there that 007 might be starting to
act, not show, his age. But I guess he'll just have to try another day.
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REVIEW: 
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