Review: Die Another Day

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