The traditional heart and soul of the Bond movies may be getting colder and darker, but the gimmicks, tempo, and excitement are intact.
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What do you think: Should the Bond franchise place a moratorium on the words "Die" and "Kill" in their titles, at least for a few years? The words seem to spell doom and gloom as every Bond that uses them gets darker and darker. Remember when we thought Timothy Dalton was taking the Bond character too seriously? This latest Bond epic makes Dalton's entries look like walks in the park.
Anyway, despite a plethora of fancy stunts that liven up the affair and make it one of the better Bonds of late, "Die Another Day" is still about as dour a 007 adventure as there ever was. Picture this if you will: Bond is captured for spying by the North Koreans, held in a dungeon for over a year, tortured with abandon, almost killed, and finally released in a hostage exchange. His physical condition after this abuse is wretched, his body haggard, his hair and beard grown out and bedraggled, and his spirits at an all-time low. Then, having regained his freedom, he's renounced by his own government! And this is only in the first twenty minutes.
I had mixed feelings about "Die Another Day," but, overall, it's probably the best Bond since "GoldenEye." Its problems are that it develops almost no strong relationships, uses quips and double entendres as substitutes for dialogue, provides a relatively weak villain, and eschews charm and wit for fast action and relentless violence. Yet, in the end I came away liking it. The traditional heart and soul of the Bond movies may be getting colder and darker, but the gimmicks, tempo, and excitement are intact. Let's say it's middling Bond but nonetheless recommendable, something I couldn't say about "Tomorrow Never Dies" or "The World Is Not Enough," the plots and characters of which I can't even remember.
Interesting, too, about these latest Bond epics: They continue growing more exaggerated and far-fetched, while simultaneously trying to be more gritty and realistic. This time Mr. Bond is almost beaten to death, something that would never have happened in the old days. I wonder if the Bond producers aren't taking their newfound realism a bit too far. It's true that Ian Fleming's original concept for Bond was more serious than the tongue-in-cheek attitude adopted by his early screen incarnations, and the latest Bonds are, indeed, a welcome relief from the silly nonsense the Roger Moore vehicles deteriorated into. But isn't there some happy medium the producers can reach, as the old Connery films managed to do? "From Russia With Love" (1963) was dark and suspenseful and seemingly somber, yet the pleasure was knowing it was all in fun, all meant to be amusingly ironic. There is a stark brutality in this latest Bond project that cannot be considered amusing or ironic by any stretch of the imagination, and it takes away some of the old Bond magic.
There's also the matter of Pierce Brosnan. For some of us who have followed the various Bonds since day one (meaning "Dr. No," 1962, discounting the earlier TV adaptation of "Casino Royale"), it has taken a while to get accustomed to Brosnan as the world's coolest super spy. At first I thought he was too slight for the role, both in physical appearance and temperament, but over the years I've become used to and accepted him. And just about the time I do, I find him growing too old for the part! Seems a little unfair. Of course, it's a well-honored (if hypocritical) tradition in Hollywood for male leads to romance women half their age; think of Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable. But as Bonds get older, and Brosnan is fifty this month, they risk looking like dirty old men bedding down twenty year olds, a distraction that takes away just that much more of the fun from the proceedings. In "Die Another Day," the situation is mitigated slightly by one of Brosnan's female co-stars being a wee bit older than she looks, but the age differences may still afford some minor discomfort for a few viewers.
What's more, Bond films are known for their exotic locations, and we've come to expect most of them to entertain us with extensive travelogues to foreign lands. "Die Another Day" does not disappoint in this regard, but it hasn't as strong or as focused a plot to hold all the locales together as in previous ventures. Not that anyone really cares much about plot in a Bond film, but this one rather meanders, taking shape as it goes along and leaving a person wondering what it was all about. Something to do with gene replacement therapy, identity exchanges, and giant lasers in outer space to start wars and eventually control the world. The usual stuff.
The story begins, topically enough, in North Korea, which turns out to be the bleakest segment of the film, then moves along to Hong Kong, Cuba, London, and Iceland, ending aboard an aircraft bound for heaven knows where. Along the way, Bond meets two villainous North Korean army officers, Col. Tan-Sun Moon (Will Yun Lee) and his right-hand man, Zao (Rick Yune). Then he finds his main squeeze, a beautiful American spy called Jinx (Halle Berry), who, rising from the sea like Venus (or Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder, whichever you prefer), turns out to be one of the best Bond women in ages--strong, independent, and charismatic. Next, he encounters an immensely wealthy and flamboyant adventurer named Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens); Graves's chilly publicist, Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike); and an American CIA honcho, Damian Falco (Michael Madsen). Of course, along the way he also runs into M (Judy Dench), who appears to get more somber with each episode, continuing to dislike Bond no matter how many times he's saved the world or her life; Moneypenny (Samantha Bond), as infatuated with 007 as ever; and Q (John Cleese), more the fuddy-duddy than ever, "I never joke about my work."
Additionally, we have Madonna in an uncredited bit part as a fencing expert named Verity. Because she is only in the film for a minute, she is able to do less damage than she does during the opening credits where she sings the single worst Bond theme song in the history of the series. Remember when everyone looked forward to the Bond opening credits for their imagination, sexiness, and good music? The new opening credits are so bad, they practically stop the show in progress. The graphics are cold and hard, and the Madonna tune may be the most unpleasant theme song in the history of movies. Live with it; past the first twenty minutes, "Die Another Day" improves considerably.
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