bnorthup
11-26-2002, 02:56 PM
Die Another Day (PG13)
At the Circus
2.5 stars
Bond market shows slight rebound
By Brent Northup
As a Sean Connery fan who adored “From Russia With Love,” and “Dr. No”, I’ve been painfully enduring the 40-year shift in the 007 series from an intelligent, even classy, espionage mystery into a brainless, Connery-less Hollywood formula action series.
Although I was dreading the latest edition of the Bond franchise, I actually found myself more relieved than aggravated by “Die Another Day.”
The good news is that this episode is one of the best in the last decade, and suggests that the precipitous decline in the series has been slowed. The bad news, however, is that there’s still a long ways to go to recover the original spirit of Ian Fleming.
The story is familiar, but with a twist: Bond has been captured and tortured while on a North Korean mission. He may even have betrayed his country, so the rumor goes. In an effort to regain his integrity and his license to kill, Bond seeks revenge against the villains who tarnished his pistol.
That’s a nice premise, more credible than the usual save-the-world tale. The story has some other nice touches, as well. For starters, Halle Berry is one of the first Bond girls with a brain and some spunk. She’s no winking appliance, rather she’s a frisky special agent who will seduce Bond before he can finish his latest tired pun. Yet another virtue: Pierce Brosnan has grown into the role of James Bond, and I’d now rank him a solid second to Connery, well above Roger Moore. At times, I actually could believe he’s as good as Connery, except that Sean was so much smarter! Brosnan dresses nattily, but whenever he opens his mouth a stupid double entendre from the sixties dribbles out.
A final virtue: Technically, the film looks sharp, with classy opening credits, a tolerable Madonna theme song and some nice cinematography.
Take my word: this all constitutes high praise from me who has spent the last 20 years panning Bond movies.
But now the dose of reality: “Die Another Day” would still embarrass Ian Fleming.
The reasons are many: first, the corny dialogue and the sexual interplay are embarrassingly out of date – isn’t there a screenwriter born after 1970 who can breathe some life into the script? Second, the story, while starting well, makes intelligence dispensable. All this special agent needs is the ability to use cute gadgets and drive a car with nuclear capacity. Third, there is no suspense! At least try to make us worry about the fate of the characters! The script even has the gall to announce in mid-film its villainous secret – something we know, but Bond does not know.
Finally, and most fatally, Bond is not human. Connery, despite his special agent powers, was adorably human. All actors since then have been stereotypes of the Connery look, without a trace of the vulnerability and compassion that Connery also possessed.
So to watch or not to watch? I would recommend that diehard 007 fans attend, if only to appreciate Halle Berry and to nod at Brosnan’s improvement. We can also hope that these changes mark a turnaround that might just produce a classic next time out. To insure that, I recommend that the director be Quentin Tarantino, Sam Mendes or Steven Soderbergh.
A Bond movie by any of those masters – from their own script! - would be a 007 adventure to die for.
END
At the Circus
2.5 stars
Bond market shows slight rebound
By Brent Northup
As a Sean Connery fan who adored “From Russia With Love,” and “Dr. No”, I’ve been painfully enduring the 40-year shift in the 007 series from an intelligent, even classy, espionage mystery into a brainless, Connery-less Hollywood formula action series.
Although I was dreading the latest edition of the Bond franchise, I actually found myself more relieved than aggravated by “Die Another Day.”
The good news is that this episode is one of the best in the last decade, and suggests that the precipitous decline in the series has been slowed. The bad news, however, is that there’s still a long ways to go to recover the original spirit of Ian Fleming.
The story is familiar, but with a twist: Bond has been captured and tortured while on a North Korean mission. He may even have betrayed his country, so the rumor goes. In an effort to regain his integrity and his license to kill, Bond seeks revenge against the villains who tarnished his pistol.
That’s a nice premise, more credible than the usual save-the-world tale. The story has some other nice touches, as well. For starters, Halle Berry is one of the first Bond girls with a brain and some spunk. She’s no winking appliance, rather she’s a frisky special agent who will seduce Bond before he can finish his latest tired pun. Yet another virtue: Pierce Brosnan has grown into the role of James Bond, and I’d now rank him a solid second to Connery, well above Roger Moore. At times, I actually could believe he’s as good as Connery, except that Sean was so much smarter! Brosnan dresses nattily, but whenever he opens his mouth a stupid double entendre from the sixties dribbles out.
A final virtue: Technically, the film looks sharp, with classy opening credits, a tolerable Madonna theme song and some nice cinematography.
Take my word: this all constitutes high praise from me who has spent the last 20 years panning Bond movies.
But now the dose of reality: “Die Another Day” would still embarrass Ian Fleming.
The reasons are many: first, the corny dialogue and the sexual interplay are embarrassingly out of date – isn’t there a screenwriter born after 1970 who can breathe some life into the script? Second, the story, while starting well, makes intelligence dispensable. All this special agent needs is the ability to use cute gadgets and drive a car with nuclear capacity. Third, there is no suspense! At least try to make us worry about the fate of the characters! The script even has the gall to announce in mid-film its villainous secret – something we know, but Bond does not know.
Finally, and most fatally, Bond is not human. Connery, despite his special agent powers, was adorably human. All actors since then have been stereotypes of the Connery look, without a trace of the vulnerability and compassion that Connery also possessed.
So to watch or not to watch? I would recommend that diehard 007 fans attend, if only to appreciate Halle Berry and to nod at Brosnan’s improvement. We can also hope that these changes mark a turnaround that might just produce a classic next time out. To insure that, I recommend that the director be Quentin Tarantino, Sam Mendes or Steven Soderbergh.
A Bond movie by any of those masters – from their own script! - would be a 007 adventure to die for.
END