After The World is Not Enough, I was at a personal impasse with 007 for the first time in my life. Even as a kid watching Roger Moore in Octopussy and A View to a Kill, Bond had always excited me, but here for the first time 007 had done something he had never done; bored me. Pierce Brosnan, whom I had loved in his first two outings as 007, had looked tired and uninterested in his battles against the terrorist Renard. Worse yet, I was starting to collect the other Bond adventures on DVD, which just served to remind me of the characte’s glory days of thrilling escapism, which were the reasons I started to love 007’s romps in the first place.
I thought it was time for real change. Perhaps my initial excitement over Brosnan was misplaced. Was he really the hero I wanted to follow into the new millennium? Had the franchise run out of steam? Well I was about to find out as 007’s 40th Screen Anniversary approached. Brosnan would return for his fourth outing as Her Majesty’s greatest Secret Agent and hopefully with more fire than before. To have the honor of paying tribute to one of the world’s greatest franchises, the actor did not have the option of failing this time out. Perhaps this wasn’t as important as when the entire franchise was resting on Goldeneye being a huge success after the dark days of the Dalton era, but for Brosnan, this film would definitely be important to his legacy as 007. Would he leave as a cherished hero as Connery and Moore had done, or would he simply be a footnote, like Dalton?
Die Another Day Starring Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike, and Rick Yune. Directed by Lee Tamahori.
In the opening moments of Die Another Day most of my fears were laid to rest. My memories of seeing Bond in formulaic, tired action scenes were replaced by the shock and excitement of director Lee Tamahori’s dynamic bombast. Much like the Pre-credit sequence of Goldeneye, Die Another Day’s opening manages to be classic Bond with brand new wrinkles to keep it fresh. Sure, watching Brosnan pull off his wetsuit to produce a clean, dry uniform is reminiscent of Sean Connery’s amazing entrance in Goldfinger, but watching the hero surf onto screen was something we’d never seen before in 40 years. Before we know it, a huge battle with foes Bond has never faced before, The North Koreans, has 007 shooting it out on hovercrafts in the demilitarized zone.
Tamahori’s coup de grace comes as the opening credits roll. Here we see Bond, captured and tortured by the North Koreans. For the first time in the history of the series, Bond is a prisoner of war. His plight is chronicled throughout the opening credit sequence, which is one of the most innovative ever produced, even if Madonna’s theme is not quite in tune with the classic Bond sound. By the end of the sequence 007 appears worn and ragged, but Bond is far from broken.
This time out, Pierce Brosnan is an absolute tiger. In his first two films he was great, but his physicality with the role was still developing. The same could be said of Connery and Moore in their first two outings before they really developed who the character was. Their third outings, Goldfinger and The Spy Who Loved Me, proved to be two of the greatest and most successful entries in the entire franchise. While Brosnan’s third film was financially successful, I don’t believe his performance to be successful. In Die Another Day that opinion totally changes. Not only is he back up to par with his initial outings, he completely surpasses his other screen performances in this role. He’s not out to prove anything or just try to look comfortable. He simply IS Bond, and that is all I could ever want. I love Roger Ebert’s quote about Brosnan this time out.
I realized with a smile, 15 minutes into the new James Bond movie, that I had unconsciously accepted Pierce Brosnan as Bond without thinking about Sean Connery, Roger Moore or anyone else. He has become the landlord, not the tenant. Handsome if a little weary, the edges of an Irish accent curling around the edges of the Queen’s English, he plays a preposterous character but does not seem preposterous playing him.
I couldn’t put it any better. Brosnan finally looks like he was born to play Bond in this picture. The actor is able to elicit the comfort that Bond’s audience felt with Connery and Moore, even while taking the character to places he’s never been before. It’s hard to watch 007 being tortured, scraggly and longhaired, completely out of his element. When Timothy Dalton went for revenge in License to Kill, he took Bond to dark places that made us uncomfortable. Brosnan’s quest for vengeance brings a darkness that is in no way forced, just a natural extension of the character he had been cultivating since Goldeneye.
A good outing as 007 can’t make a film alone though. A Bond film has to have great villains to be able to really succeed, and Die Another Day has some really good ones. Toby Stephens’ Gustav Graves is really fun as a billionaire who must have been studying the schemes of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, as his satellite complete with diamond powered laser is almost a complete replica of the one that Blofeld used in Diamonds are Forever. Still, I really like how Stephens imbues Graves with tongue in cheek playfulness as well as a foul temper, each character trait showing itself in a terrific swordfight with Bond halfway through the film’s running.
Even better is Rick Yune as Zao, the best henchman since Xenia Onatopp. Zao is a character that helped put Bond in the hands of the North Koreans, and 007 is relentless in his pursuit of him. What I may love about him more than anything else is Zao’s look. After an explosion embeds diamonds in his face, Bond interrupts a session of gene therapy that causes all of his skin to go white. Zao may not be as physically imposing as Oddjob or Jaws, but he’s definitely got the “Bond Villain” look down.
Perhaps where this film is most divisive is in its Bond Girls. Halle Berry is spirited, yet maybe a little too over the top as Jinx, a CIA operative helping Bond take down Graves’ operation. One thing’s for sure, it’s hard to take your eyes off of her, plus she doesn’t come off as air-headed like Denise Richards in The World is Not Enough. She and Bond have playful banter and Jinx is a nice match for 007, as she is not quite as strong as Michelle Yeo’s Wei Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies, but has a roguish streak that seems to even catch Bond off guard.
Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike) is a more classic Bond Girl. Frost is Graves’ publicist, who James uses to get close to his nemesis. Pike holds her own in this film, playing off both Brosnan and Berry quite well, and her “death for breakfast” quote is probably the best line in the movie.
Of course even with these players, the movie could have fallen apart without a good director. Michael Apted’s blasé approach to Bond ruined the previous entry, but with Lee Tamahori at the helm, Die Another Day becomes a celebration of 007’s forty years of screen adventures. While these films have come in either low-key missions, such as On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and For Your Eyes Only, or over the top entertainments, such as You Only Live Twice and Moonraker, Tamahori is able to have his cake and eat it too.
Die Another Day has a terrific first half, as Bond is on the run and having to rely on his wits while in Cuba searching for Zao. This is an amazing Bond film all by itself, recalling fond memories on 007 frolicking on beaches during Dr. No and Thunderball. Brosnan looks at home as he smokes Cuban cigars and chases after Zao and Jinx in a surgery clinic with enough mirrors and trap doors that it could stand in for Scaramanga’s funhouse in Man with the Golden Gun.
By the time Bond reaches Graves’ Ice Fortress, we’re in full on 007 epic mode. The director puts together amazing action, as Bond gets into crazy battles and moments of wonderful absurdity as he windsurfs by using the hood of a rocket car and then has a full on “Spy Car Showdown” with Zao in his new Aston Martin. The finale in which a plane falls apart as it falls to earth is pure Bond lunacy.
To make this even more fun for 007 aficionados, Die Another Day is packed with references to all the previous Bond films. Homage comes in big and small moments, such as Halle Berry coming out of the surf with a white belt and knife, ala Honey Rider in Dr. No. Other terrific moments have Bond going through a graveyard of old gadgets in Q’s lab, such as Rosa Klebb’s shoe knife and the alligator submarine from Octopussy or Graves opening up a union Jack parachute, just as Roger Moore did in The Spy Who Loved Me. All of these moments are a love letter to the fans and films that have kept 007 alive through the years and made him the most enduring hero in Western cinema.
This is not to say the movie doesn’t have its problems. I hate it that film makers couldn’t come up with a more evil plot than borrowing from Diamonds are Forever, and the Cuba portion of the movie is so good, that it’s a little disappointing when the pyrotechnics start going, even if it’s a superior example of crazy 007 antics. Also, the movie pushes the fun a little too far at times, such as a scene where Bond seems to be able to stop his heart and then resuscitate on command. The movie’s biggest sticking point is his new invisible car, which is giving a little too much credit to Q and his technicians. These are all minor quibbles though in a movie that brings the thrills, and brings them often.
Die Another Day would turn out to be the twilight on Brosnan’s 007 career, but at least he would go out on a high note. Too bad Bond fans are so fickle, as his legacy has somehow been tarnished in the last few weeks as a disappointment when all of his films were financial winners and two of his films, Goldeneye and this one, could rank as some of the most entertaining ever produced. Brosnan was a Bond who will go down as one of the most popular members of this vaunted group and as a man who kept this franchise on top where others had failed to do so.
Two letters this week, and the first is again from Brian Paige, who writes about last week’s column about The World is Not Enough.
I am baffled at the disdain shown to World is Not Enough. In the recent Entertainment Weekly Bond article they named it the Worst Bond Ever. I don’t really get it. Sure, it doesn’t really break much new ground but aside from Denise Richards there isn’t anything here to embarrass Bond fans. If anything this is my 2nd favorite Brosnan movie behind Goldeneye. I thought Tomorrow Never Dies had a hideous Jonathan Pryce performance (though it was better watching it again than at the theater). Die Another Day was hurt by Halle Berry’s mere involvement and by a completely insane plot with a Spoiler! Korean heel turning himself white.
There are definitely worse Bond movies. I just watched View to a Kill the other night and that one is easily the weakest in the series. Moonraker is one I can’t seriously put ahead of TWINE either. Man With the Golden Gun is another that is total crap, with one of the worst Bond girls in the series and a truly bad theme song. If not for Lee being in it, it’s the weakest in the series. Living Daylights is still fairly decent but Dalton was more of a bad ass in Licence to Kill.
The World is Not Enough isn’t an amazing Bond movie, but it isn’t awful either. It’s somewhere in the middle. I put it #12 on my Bond list.
Brian
Well Brian,
It’s hard to put my finger on what exactly it is about the movie that really just makes me dislike it so. Honestly, I know that there are entries in the series that aren’t necessarily made as well as The World is Not Enough, but to me they’re just more fun to watch. With each of the Moore entries you mentioned, there’s at least one stunt (as there is in every one of his movies) where is man is in complete mortal danger. Even A View to Kill has the jump off the Eiffel Tower, which is a show stopper in my opinion. TWINE sins in the worst possible way a Bond film can; it gets boring. There’s just nothing spectacular about it at all. And probably makes it worse than the Dalton entries is that I expect more from Brosnan than I did his predecessor. With Goldeneye under his belt, Brosnan was really on his way to stepping out of Connery’s shadow. With The World is Not Enough, he swept himself right back under the rug. Hope that helps to clear up my feelings. Thanks for writing!
The next letter is from ChrisLP182@aol.com who writes,
It is probably extremely late (from when you had these reviews up) but PLEASE explain to me…you and a bunch of other people say that Halloween: H20 completely disregard what happened in movies 4-6. I honestly don’t see how…please correct me (nicely haha) but, After Halloween 2, Laurie Strode and Jimmy supposedly get married and have a kid about a year later (Jamie) the fourth movie takes place 10 years after the original (so the whole Jamie’s age thing works out because wasn’t she 9 in that movie? and in The Curse Of Michael Myers, it is 5 years later, she is impregnated…20 years after the original, she has a 17 year old son, and she is alive, because she faked her own death…now please, can you help me figure out how it doesn’t connect to 4-6, because I actually say it does…
I tell you, I wish that it did connect with the rest of the films, but unfortunately I’m pretty sure it doesn’t. First of all, there are those lines in the film spoken by the police officer that states that Michael Myers hasn’t been heard from in 20 years. Now I’m pretty sure that the killing sprees that he went on in 4-6 were pretty well documented in the movies by the press, so that line would have thrown out the continuity right there. Secondly, there’s no mention of Jamie at all in the movie.
I also found this at IMDB.com
The reports that Kevin Williamson’s original treatment for H20 included a scene in which Halloween 4 through 6 are acknowledged as being “in continuity” and “canon” are completely accurate. The scene did exist, and involved a bitchy student at Keri/Laurie’s school giving a class report on the “Haddonfield Murders”, and going into great detail about Jamie Lloyd, Danielle Harris and JC Brandy’s character from Halloween 4 through 6. The student talks about Jamie losing her parents in an auto accident, as was the explanation in those sequels for Laurie Strode’s absence. (In fact, the only reason for Laurie to be in the Witness Production Program with her son under an assumed name as “Keri Tate” at all was because the original story for H20 was conceived like this, with Halloween 4 through 6 in continuity, and Williamson thus being required to create an explanation for Laurie’s “death” in the previous movies and her subsequent resurrection.) The student’s report chronicles Jamie’s being hunted and eventually killed by her uncle, Michael Myers. Upon hearing this oral presentation in the classroom, a grief-stricken Keri/Laurie then retreats to a restroom and throws up. This scene was of course omitted from the actual film.
And there you go. Then again, if you want to believe the movie fit within the same continuity, nobody’s stopping. I personally wanted to look at it that way at first, but then I finally had to give in that the movie had gone the Superman Returns route.
Well guys see you next week. I’ll finally get to take a look at Casino Royale.
Picture Credits:impawards.com, bondmovies.com
