Die Another Day (2002) Review

 "Read this, bitch!"
-Jinx Johnson



James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is sent on a mission to North Korea, which goes terribly wrong.  He is betrayed, captured, and tortured for 14 months.  He is finally traded for a terrorist named Zao (Rick Yune).  Bond soon goes rogue in order to track down Zao and find the person who betrayed him.


What Works:

I know a lot of people consider this to be one of the worst Bond movies, but I'm a big fan.  This is probably the silliest and most over-the-top of all the Bond movies.  This has never bothered me.  My favorite Bond film is Octopussy for crying out loud.  Sure, we have invisible cars, face changes, space lasers, and sci-fi power suits.  Does any of this bother me?  Nope.  I think it's incredibly fun and I'm always laughing along with the movie when it gets ridiculous.

The action is really excellent throughout the entire film.  The hovercraft chase to open the movie is very inventive and the fight between Jinx (Halle Berry) and Miranda (Rosamund Pike) is awesome. Best of all is the car chase between Bond and Zao.  We've seen Bond drive a gadget-filled car before, but this is the first time a villain has had one, which gives us an excellent showdown.

I really enjoy the villains across the board.  Zao has a very memorable appearance and death.  Toby Stephens's Gustav Graves is literally designed to make fun of Bond and Pike gives a chilly performance as Miranda Frost.  Even the minor henchmen are fun.  Vlad is a cartoon scientist and there's literally a guy named Mr. Kil.  Does it feel like a parody at times?  Sure.  Is it fun to watch?  Absolutely.

A small part of the movie is Bond gets captured for 14 months and is released to discover the world has changed.  It's not touched on much, but it is interesting.  We've never seen Bond captured for that long before and it's a solid way to start the film.

The highlight of the movie for me is the sword fight between Bond and Graves.  It's a very stripped down action sequence, unlike the rest of the film, and I really enjoy how straightforward it is.  It's literally just a sword fight that escalates and escalates to almost an absurd level.  It's a lot of fun and my favorite sequence of the movie.


What Sucks:

The worst part of the movie comes when Bond escapes Icarus by driving an ice dragster off a cliff and windsurfing away.  This sequence looks absolutely terrible with some godawful CGI.  It might also be the most over-the-top moment of the entire series.  I'd probably be fine with it if it at least looked ok, but it does not.

Finally, while I enjoy the character of Jinx, Halle Berry is forced to deliver some truly terrible dialogue.  There are plenty of bad lines throughout the film and most of the actors manage to sell most of them, but Berry mostly fails to do so.  It's actually cringey how bad it is at times.


Verdict:

While not as good as Goldeneye, Die Another Day is Brosnan's 2nd best Bond film, which I know is a hot take.  The action is great, the villains are fun, and the movie is wonderfully over-the-top.  What's not to like besides the terrible CGI and some awful dialogue?  This movie has absolutely got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good 

 
#1. Octopussy

#2. The Spy Who Loved Me

#3. From Russia with Love

#4. Goldfinger

#5. Goldeneye

#6. The Living Daylights

#7. Moonraker

#8. Die Another Day

#9. On Her Majesty's Secret Service

#10. License to Kill

#11 Tomorrow Never Dies

#12. Live and Let Die

#13. Dr. No

#14. For Your Eyes Only

#15. The World is Not Enough

#16. Thunderball

#17. You Only Live Twice

#18. A View to a Kill

#19. The Man with the Golden Gun

#20. Diamonds Are Forever    

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