Rent Die Another Day on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Ian Fleming (characters), Neal Purvis & Robert Wade (written by)
Directed by: Lee Tamahori
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Rosamund Pike, Toby Stephens, Rick Yune, John Cleese, Judi Dench, Will Yun Lee
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
James Bond is sent to investigate the connection between a North Korean terrorist and a diamond mogul who's funding the development of an international space weapon.
Verdict
The most fun Brosnan Bond movie because it also embraces the ludicrous aspects of the franchise. I want to see Bond fighting silly villains in ridiculous locations. It's never less than entertaining with an action packed pacing. The villain builds himself an ice palace and loves space lasers. He also just wants his father's love. This rarely misses a chance for a pun. What I want from this franchise is to be entertained, and this brings it. Bond movies need a good villain with a purpose, and far too many movies include a bad guy that exists just to fill space opposite Bond. In this movie we get a guy unhinged on multiple levels.
Watch It.
Review
This was Brosnan's fourth and final Bond movie before he was replaced by Daniel Craig.
This opens with spy surfers infiltrating a military base. Turns out it's James Bond (Pierce Brosnan). We don't often see him working with a team. He's there to meet Colonel Moon (Will Yun Lee) and Zao (Rick Yune), posing as a smuggler. Just so we know Moon is bad, he uses a person hung up as a punching bag. The kicker is that guy is his anger therapist. Bond is trading diamonds for weapons with this warlord, but they figure out he's a spy and blow up his helicopter. A hovercraft chase follows, which is fun, but Bond is captured and imprisoned. It's rare for Bond to ever lose.
 |
| Pierce Brosnan plays Agent 007 James Bond |
MI6 can't be certain Bond didn't leak information during his imprisonment so they revoke his 00 status. I like that this movie actually puts Bond at a disadvantage. That never happens. Bond manages to control his heart rate and escape MI6. It's so wild I like it.
Bond has to clear his name, but he always meets the exact people to further the plot. He meets Jinx (Halle Berry) in Cuba, and she's immediately swept off her feet. Big surprise. They're both looking into a gene facial reconstruction clinic. Bond finds Zao there, and diamonds link him to Graves (Toby Stephens). Graves recently became famous after finding a diamond vein in Iceland. Bond checks in on Graves who happens to be fencing. They begin dueling which turns rather competitive, leading to real swords and fighting through the building. Madonna makes an appearance as a fencing instructor, a trade off for her singing the title song.
 |
| Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry play James Bond, Jinx Johnson |
Since it's been half the movie and Bond destroyed a building, he's restored to 00 status and given a Aston Martin V12 Vanquish so he can head to Graves's Ice Palace in style. The place looks like an amusement park. Graves has created a space laser that can mimic sunlight and help grow crops in isolated areas. He's holding a conference to show it off, but the problem with this space laser is that it can also be used to destroy things.
I like the villains in this, in part as it's such a weird and wild swing. This movie is a lot of fun because it goes for the ridiculous. Fancy cars drifting through an ice palace, an invisible car, and villain reveals are only part of it. There are too many tropes for this to be as serious as some of the franchise's movies, and while this is on the sillier side, it's entertaining. The villain made himself an ice palace. Several of the Bond movies suffer from a boring villain that exists just to give Bond an enemy. Not only does this villain want to restart the Korean war, he just wants his dad to be proud of him. While all the movies do it, this one really loves its puns. This might be my favorite Brosnan Bond movie purely for the fun factor.
I'd rank the Brosnan movies in order as Die Another Day, Tomorrow Never Dies, Goldeneye, The World is Not Enough.
No comments :
Post a Comment