There have been 20 Bond movies in the last 40 years, and they never
seem to tire. The same material is delivered time after time, yet it
always manages to rehash itself, and appear fresh and new. In Die
Another Day, there are the typical gadgets, cars, and showdowns;
but we are still able to have a fun time watching it. Pierce Brosnan
still doesn’t match up to the best James Bond, Sean Connery, but
accomplishes quite a bit in the long, but durable running length.
Though this budget is going to be hard to match at the box-office, and
make profit by doubling, I can confidently say that the series will
see many more new films in years to come. The most admirable thing
about the Bond movies is that they leave us in a constant change of
emotion. They are so erotic they make us feel sexy, they are so
terrifying they make us feel scared, and they are so corny they make
us want to laugh. Die Another Day bends the “PG-13” rating, but
this is for the better. What is a
Halle
Berry movie without some degree of
sexual content?
The plot is a bit hard to explain, but I
figure I’ll take a stab at it. In the beginning of the flick, we see
James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) imprisoned by an unhappy bunch of Koreans
after a diamond deal goes wrong. We then flash forward in time, when
he has been bailed out. He undergoes some tests in a lab after he has
been exported from the dungeon vicinity by his old business
associates, which are performed to verify his authenticity. But, sure
enough, he is the real Bond. M (Judi Dench) is there to greet him. She
tells him that he might’ve given away some important information about
their secret agent organization while under drugs and hypnosis when
imprisoned. They have no way of knowing this for sure, but for this
reason, the federation had to bail him out of the one-man prison.
Among his captors was Zao (Rick Yune), one of the most evil villains
to ever see the light of day in the James Bond flicks. Bond must track
him and his partners down before they destroy
South Korea and begin a
plan of mass destruction. He starts his mission in
Havana,
Cuba. There he
meets Jinx (Halle
Berry), who emerges from the
beautiful ocean waves to greet him. She is an American agent who will
be working with him. The two have quite the time together among their
many adventures.
There is some quite appealing acting in the
film done by three people: Pierce Brosnan,
Halle
Berry, and Judi Dench. It isn’t
exactly of award winning quality, but like the entire Bond franchise,
it’s extremely likable. Pierce is a ladies man, and is in the top of
his form in Die Another Day, perhaps because of his stunning
chemistry with
Berry. She plays Jinx, a character
originally introduced in the classic Dr. No. To fit her
personality she has a sexy role, which spices up this film quite a
bit. This is the first Bond movie to show some skin, and sex itself,
which might at the same time turn off children while turning on
adults. Jinx is a very frisky character, behind a beautiful leading
lady, who really works in such an interesting part. Judi Dench had a
much smaller role than these two, but supporting characters seem to be
her specialty. Her short appearances seemingly have been worked harder
on than leading roles, and this makes sense because the dialogue can
be better concentrated on. M is an intriguing lady because of the
control that she has over Bond. It would seem as though the hot and
talented secret agent would be the one giving commands to an old lady
who tells him where his missions are going to be, and watches them
through video streams. Between M, Bond, and Jinx, my plate was full of
unique and entertaining characters to watch.
Die Another Day was hard to settle
into because of the large crowd, however. In a one hour period, I went
to four different theatres running two different shows of the film
each, and all of them were sold out. I finally found one opening a
while later, though I did have to sit in the second row of the
theatre. This might not be the best shows to see in the first week
because it will most definitely be crowded. Maybe it’s just San
Diegans who go nuts for this material, because judging by the rather
realistic amount of money the film has been making at the box office,
I wouldn’t have been expecting it to be this popular. If I saw it at a
4:45 showing, I wonder what
the
8:00 looks like! I might have
not chosen the most pleasurable time to see the film, but this
definitely did not affect my ability to enjoy it. I loved the
characters, and all of the actions and emotions they took on. The
settings and scenery were neat as well, and were able to match the
great things that took the foreground of the scene. The special
effects were at the top of their form, and made everything more
realistic looking. The direction, production, and cinematography look
great, and the team who worked on them should be complemented. And the
movie as a whole is an exhilarating experience. Die Another Day
packs fans in, and this is no surprise; it is the best of recent day
007 films, and will please all of the people that see it.
-Danny, Bucket Reviews