Die Another Day (2002) MGM/Action-Adventure RT: 133 minutes Rated PG-13 (action violence and sexuality) Director: Lee Tamahori Screenplay: Neal Purvis and Robert Wade Music: David Arnold Cinematography: David Tattersall Release date: November 20, 2002 (UK)/November 22, 2002 (US) Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike, Rick Yune, Kenneth Tsang, Will Yun Lee, Emilio Echevarria, Samantha Bond, Colin Salmon, Michael Gorevoy, Lawrence Makoare, Michael Madsen, Rachel Grant, John Cleese, Judi Dench. Opening Song: “Die Another Day” by Madonna Box Office: $160.9M (US)/$431.9M (World)
Rating: ***
Sometimes it’s a good idea to go back and reevaluate a film you didn’t like the first time you saw it. You might find your opinion has changed. While it’s not true for all of them (I will NEVER change my opinion of It’s Pat: The Movie), you’d be surprised how many movies I’ve changed my mind about over the years. That’s what happened with Die Another Day this past weekend.
What you’re reading now is a complete rewrite of a review I wrote for Die Another Day, the 20th film in the James Bond series and the last to star Pierce Brosnan as 007. In it, I panned the spy actioner calling it “the absolute worst of the series” and saying it would “leave even the most diehard Bond fan exasperated”. I’d like to officially retract those statements as well as most of the things I said in my earlier review. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you could forget it ever existed. This new one reflects my changed opinion of Die Another Day more accurately.
The one thing that hasn’t changed is my opinion of the theme song. I still don’t like it and never will. It’s like this. A few Bond themes have been great. The ones that come to mind are “Live and Let Die” by Paul McCartney and Wings, “Nobody Does It Better” (The Spy Who Loved Me) by Carly Simon, “All Time High” (Octopussy) by Rita Coolidge, “A View to a Kill” by Duran Duran and “Skyfall” by Adele. The rest are forgettable for the most part. “Die Another Day” by Madonna is the absolute worst by far. It doesn’t even sound like a Bond theme. It sounds more like house music. It just doesn’t fit. They should have refitted it for Shirley Bassey.
Another aspect of Die Another Day I’m not wild about is the opening credits sequence, an essential element of any Bond movie dating back to the beginning when they were designed by Maurice Binder. He was succeeded by Daniel Kleinman after Licence to Kill (1989). He designed the titles for Die Another Day which depict Bond’s lengthy stay in a North Korean prison where he’s beaten, tortured and stung by scorpions. The traditional silhouette images of shapely women are turned into representations of the tortures Bond is subjected to during his imprisonment. I know the makers are going for something darker this time out, but it leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.
Aside from the theme and accompanying credits, the rest of Die Another Day is pretty fun albeit completely absurd. It opens with Bond surfing (yes, on a surfboard!) into North Korean to interrupt a deal that involves corrupt Colonel Moon (Lee, The Wolverine) trading weapons for South African conflict diamonds. It goes south for Bond quickly when somebody blows his cover. A hovercraft chase ensues and ends with the death of Moon and Bond’s capture by his high-ranking father (Tsang, Rush Hour 2). Then the credits kick in.
After 14 months, Bond is released as part of a prisoner exchange deal for the younger Moon’s right-hand Zao (Yune, The Fast and the Furious) who has diamonds embedded in his face, the result of Bond blowing up the briefcase containing the gems during the botched operation. He doesn’t receive the warmest of welcomes from M (Dench, Shakespeare in Love) who suspends him from active duty and revokes his license to kill. She no longer trusts 007. It’s thought that he shared sensitive information that resulted in the death of an American agent. He contends he was set up by the same individual who burned him 14 months earlier, but M doesn’t believe him.
Bond escapes from custody and goes about hunting down Zao and the person who set him up. His still-unauthorized investigation leads him to Gustav Graves (Stephens, Lost in Space), a British entrepreneur about to launch the Icarus, an orbital mirror satellite that can harness the power of the sun. Oh, there’s no way he’d weaponize it, would he? LOL! Surely you jest.
Directed by Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors), Die Another Day is the most bonkers Bond movie since Moonraker, the one that had the British spy fighting a laser battle…. IN SPACE! It’s slightly more grounded than the 1979 film in that Bond remains on the planet. However, this one has him driving an invisible car created by Q (Monty Python’s Cleese in his final appearance in the role). It comes in handy when doing battle with Zao and Graves’ henchmen at his lair in Iceland. It’s made completely of ice. You have to wonder if the place has heating. Then there’s the villain Gustav Graves. He has a secret, a big one, relating to his identity.
The main Bond Girl this time is Jinx (Berry fresh off her historical Oscar win for Monster’s Ball), an American NSA operative we first meet emerging from the ocean a la Ursula Andress in Dr. No forty years earlier. She’s after the bad guys too. Naturally, the two agents join forces both in the field and the bedroom. The other Bond Girl is one Miranda Frost (Pike, Gone Girl), the personal assistant to Graves who totally lives up to her name. That is, before 007 uses his charms to thaw her out. Berry is more than game, kicking ass and looking gorgeous in sexy outfits. As for Pike, let’s just say her character arc won’t surprise anybody.
Like Drax in Moonraker, the main villain in Die Another Day is rather underwhelming. Graves has a few good scenes like a fencing match against Bond that quickly escalates to a full-fledged sword fight. Yes, that’s pop singer Madonna making a cameo as the fencing instructor. This was when she had a British accent. Stephens plays him well, but he’s still not one of the more memorable Bond baddies. Zao, slightly less forgettable because of his unique visage, comes off as more of an immediate threat. Yune does a good job in the role.
There is plenty of action in Die Another Day with all the chasing, fighting, shooting and narrow escapes. Lack of action has never been an issue with 007 unless you count On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) which I feel moves too slowly. The action scenes are exciting and well-mounted. The problem is one of tonal balance. It’s hard to reconcile the supreme silliness of the film with the dark stuff at the beginning. The special effects are good despite some unfortunate CGI at the end. The burning plane looks incredibly and obviously fake.
In his final turn as Bond, Brosnan does a good job. I always thought he was a decent 007; it’s the scripts that were the problem. They just didn’t serve him well. The plots were often convoluted, more so than any of the 007 films that preceded the Brosnan era (1995-2002). Oh well, what does it matter? It’s still cool to see the character in action. That’s exactly what he does in Die Another Day, a solid actioner that benefits from going off the rails without launching our hero…. IN SPACE!
