Category : Action
Description :
This has gotta be the loopiest Bond movie ever. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The Cold War environment in which 007 was incubated has long since crumbled, and if Bond is to be set in the present day he will have to evolve. One could argue this began with Pierce Brosnan as the new 90s style Bond, but Die Another Day is the strongest departure yet from the James Bond movies of yesteryear.
Let's be clear; Die Another Day still has all the standard action flick elements, and some faithful 007 ingredients such as gadgets, girls, and even John Cleese as the new Q.
Yet Die stands apart from its predecessors because of two new attributes.
Firstly the intro sequence shows 007 in a light that, strangely enough, he has never been seen in before: the subject of torture and brutal enemy captivity. Somehow, the 007 we used to know never let things sink that low.
Secondly, as far as I can remember, Halle Berry is the first actress to play an independent female role in counterpoint to James Bond. She is not just "a Bond girl", rather her role is on a more equal and independant footing. The character of Jinx has multiple roles, changing from an initial appearance as a potential Bond girl, moving into independant agent, becoming an ally later, but ultimately culminating in lover. This leads to a loss of focus and clarity about what she is all about, but then I shouldn't look too deeply into that since this is an action flick after all.
There are still cliched things that happen that kind of annoy me... like, why would the computers in the american command centre blow up just because a base out in central Korea got hit? Stoopid stuff like that. Of course this movie should not be taken seriously, and its makers know this. The opening shot of MI6 agents infiltrating a guarded coastline by *surfing* disclaims any believability.
Loved the invisible car, and the bad guy's publicist.
Hated the special effects shots that were obviously miniatures. Iceland was an interesting choice of location, although the millionaire's ice hotel could have looked a bit less like the Sydney Opera House crossed with McDonalds.
The two main changes I've identified are good, and I hope that the future brings more 007 flicks by a wider variety of kooky directors with a greater variety of interpretations of the basic Bond brief.
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Viewing Status
#viewings=1
First seen
in 1/2003
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