Die Another Day
It was extremely clear by this point, after 40 years and 20 movies, that the James Bond Franchise as we knew it was dying fast: Every possible concept, idea, and storyline within the formula had been milked to a dry bone, which led to star Pierce Brosnan and the producers screaming for the writers to come up with new ideas, and yes we do get THAT here, mostly several bizarre, off-kilter sci-fi style touches that make Moonraker seem realistic, along with casting Michael Madsen as an American CIA boss (and foil to Judi Dench’s M), but when viewed in context, comes off as absolute desperation and confirmation that they had nothing left to offer, complete with a Razzie-winning cameo (and awful theme song) by Madonna to fittingly seal the kiss of death, and it wasn’t until Daniel Craig and the idea of doing a reboot / origin story years later that the franchise would continue. Here Brosnan’s Bond is matched against a billionaire diamond tycoon who in reality is a former North Korean Colonel (whom Bond had tossed off a waterfall) who has had his race literally changed at a DNA reassignment clinic in Cuba and hungers for revenge against Bond who himself had spent 14 months being tortured daily by the North Koreans after the ill-fated mission. As played by Toby Stephens, he is also literally one of the most effeminate villains in movie history and certainly among the ranks of Bond (he makes Hugo Drax look like Stallone), and Stephens, besides lacking screen presence, can manage little more than a wimpy little sneer to try to show how menacing he is, not to mention by the end donning a ridiculous looking Iron Man suit in a lame attempt to make himself more imposing. Admittedly, the film gets a good mojo going early, as the North Korean scenes are effective, along with the idea that Bond is supposed to be decommissioned for being a liability by MI6, but that all literally dies with Stephens’ intro as well as the entrance of Halle Berry (copying Ursula Andress from Dr. No) as an American agent who shares with Brosnan some of the worst-written repartee in screen history, not to mention breaks the record for shortest time between her character entering the film and falling into bed with Commander Bond for an awkward sex scene. Other ridiculous bits include a terrorist henchman with diamonds embedded in his face (making him easily identifiable), an ice palace where a deathtrap for Berry is set up by locking her in and then melting the place, and worse of all, an INVISIBLE car invented by the new Q (John Cleese, collecting his paycheck and then getting the hell out). Some may say that the ludicrous, comic book aspects of the film keep it from getting boring, but director Lee Tamahori nonetheless insists on trying to cram in overt references to ALL 19 previous Bond movies which adds to its mish-mash feel, and has the second string Bond Girl (Rosamund Pike) be an especially frigid British agent who vows to M that she won’t fall prey to Bond’s advances (all well and good except that her character name is Miranda FROST). Overall, a sad end to the Brosnan era, and forever known as the movie that essentially killed the Bond franchise (but not forever)…
5/10