UK / USA (2002)
Length: 120 minutes
Directed by: Lee Tamahori
Genre: Espionnage
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike, Rick Yune, Judi Dench, John Cleese and Kenneth Tsang

During a mission in a demilitarized in North Korea, James Bond, a British secret agent, is captured, because he's betrayed by a member of his organization. Fourteen months later, he's released with the help of M, his boss. James Bond's secret agent status is rescinded by M, because she believes that Bond talked while he was under the effect drugs. With the intention to save his honor and to find the traitor, James Bond begins his personal investigation.

For this 20th film and for the 40th anniversary of the cinematographic franchise itself, we just get a great chance to see new things, such as CGI (Computer Generated Images) and also some subtle references to many old James Bond films. Despite being very entertaining and exciting, this James Bond movie is a little bit too "americanized", because the movie looks like a Hollywood movie, but it is still worth watching although the script should have greatly been improved.

As it was said, the script should have greatly been improved. I must admit that the storyline is quite exciting at a certain degree, because you really wonder what's going to happen to James Bond, but at the middle of the story, everything becomes pratically predictable, because unlike in some old James Bond film, there's no suspense. In fact, when you really know what's coming next, it breaks just a little bit your pleasure. Furthemore, I should also mention that the script writers turn to the Asians - I mean the North Korean - to create the vilains. Even if I'm not North Korean, I categorically think that the vilains themselves are just a pure caricature (not to mention the racist flavour).

One might also notice that in order to attract an army of young people, the producers wanted to use special effects rendered with computer assistance. Unfortunately, because of the lack of realism, the CGI doesn't look great, particularly during the scene in which James Bond is surfing with a parachute while a glacier is collapsing. However, the real action scenes and stunts are quite fun to watch, even if they are not necessarily more spectacular than ever. After all, the car chase is obviously the best action scene.

Pierce Brosnan does a great job as James Bond, but unfortunately, because of the "American" taste of the movie, we don't get to see the British humour that he used in GoldenEye. In brief, James Bond himself is a very strong hero, but his movie are starting to lose their "quality" due to the questionable work of the script writers. Hopefully, Pierce Brosnan can be very proud to be supported by such a talented actress like Halle Berry, as Jynx. Toby Stephen, as Gustav Graves, and Rosamund Pike, as Miranda Frost, are really great, but they are obviously overshadowed by Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry. As Q, John Cleese (The Jungle Book) is really funnier than the previous one and it even if he appears shortly, it is always a nice pleasure to see him on screen.

Finally, the movie didn't blow me away. There's two things that I really liked: the very amusing bunch of references to the old James Bond films and the gun barrel sequence at the beginning of the movie. In short, Die Another Day is the kind of action movie that I would watch when all the TV channels are talking about nothing. Before I conclude this review, I would really like to tell you that in the next years that will come, I hope that the James Bond movies will be better.

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damaged on Fri Nov 04, 2005 16:16

very good movie!! i suggest it to anyone willing to watch another one of the classic 007

scm on Fri Nov 04, 2005 16:40

Somehow this movie doesn't make me feel that I'm watching a 007 movie. How can i put it... I think it's too "Hollywooded". But as long there is action, I'll be watching.

hiddendragon on Fri Nov 04, 2005 20:56

Without a moment of doubt, it is certainly one of the wildest James Bond movies, but I would rather watch GoldenEye, since it is a real James Bond, in my opinion. By the way, speaking about Q, who do you prefer between John Cleese (The World is not Enough ; Die Another Day) and Desmond Llewelyn (GoldenEye ; The Spy who Loved Me)? I must admit that I appreciate both of them, but John Cleese is funnier, even if his Q is colder than Desmond Llewelyn's Q.

scm on Fri Nov 04, 2005 21:27

I only watched the 007 movies that featured Pierce Brosnan because I wasn't born or wasn't old enough when the others before Goldeneye came out.

flyingdagger on Fri Nov 04, 2005 21:37

Hiddendragon is talking about the actors who played Q, the master of gadgets. Well, it's rather pretty hard to make a choice between John Cleese and Desmond Llewelyn, but I'll take Desmond Llewelyn, since I really liked to see him scold James Bond and I can't forget this famous line of his:"Don't forget to bring this car back in pristine order."

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