Looking back at Die Another Day (2002)
Die Another Day was the 20th film in the James Bond franchise and marked its 40th Anniversary since Dr No was released in 1962. It is the fourth and final film with Pierce Brosnan as the eponymous spy after Goldeneye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and The World is Not Enough (1999). Directed by Lee Tamahori, critics were lukewarm, and it received mixed reviews. Some say that the movie was the reason the producers decided to reboot the entire franchise and start again with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (2006). But is this criticism warranted and what does Die Another Day offer when watched over twenty years later?
The plot follows James Bond as he infiltrates a North Korean military base that is trading weapons for conflict diamonds. He is captured and tortured. Once released he travels to Cuba to track down Zao (Rick Yune), the North Korean agent responsible for this torture. He meets US agent Jinx (Halle Berry) and they uncover a plot by the mysterious Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens) to harness solar energy. Die Another Day sticks to the Bond formula that had served it well for the 19 previous movies.
One of the problems with the franchise at this point was the cinematic context in which it was released. Post 9/11, audiences wanted darker and grittier movies to match the mood of the world. The Bourne Identity (2002) had been a big hit a few months earlier and was constantly compared to Die Another Day. In comparison to Matt Damon’s raw and realistic Jason Bourne, Bond was seen as ‘campy’ and tame.
Another franchise that may have damaged the brand was the Austin Powers trilogy. Consisting of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), there movies were embedded in the public conscious when Die Another Day was released. This made it difficult for a James Bond film to be seen without thinking of Mike Myers’ Austin Powers and Doctor Evil. It instantly places many of the tropes popular in Bond films into the realm of satire and mockery. Whether that’s an evil plot involving a giant satellite or Bond’s attempts to seduce women, sometimes audiences would be thinking, “Oh behave.”
However, there is grit in this film. The opening scene where Bond infiltrates a North Korean base and is tortured for 14 months isn’t really Bond camping it up. I know Madonna’s theme song came in for criticism at the time but it’s unique and distinctive and works in the context of the opening credits. It provides an adequate bed as we watch Bond get battered.
Pierce Brosnan is as good as ever and really portrays the character well. He is still believable as Bond as has not gone over into being the character for one too many like Roger Moore. Whether he’s just come out of a Korean prison for 14 months or suited up in his tuxedo, he does look the part. Halle Berry as Jinx and Rosamund Pike as Miranda Frost also give professional performances. If you can suspend your belief that Toby Stephens is playing a reconstructed North Korean, he gets away with it too.
The plot moves at a good pace between the opening in North Korea to an entertaining action scene in Cuba, back to London and then to Iceland and the ice hotel. The ice palace looks beautiful on screen and the production and design team should be proud of their efforts. In fact, all of the locations, stunts and practical effects are done by a team at the top of their game. You can see the hard work and dedication that has gone into making this movie from a practical standpoint.
It never feels bloated and has some great scenes such as the opening hovercraft chase, the action scene in the Cuban hospital, and the sword fight between Graves and Bond. This came at a time where sword fighting in film was the big thing and Bond wanted a piece of the action. Gladiator and The Lord of the Rings had made it the go-to action sequence and so Die Another Day hired the leading fencer and sword-fighting coach Bob Anderson to choreograph the scene. The duel is frantic and kinetic and feels realistic. The characters are bleeding and getting hurt in the process and there is nothing graceful about the two characters going for the kill. It was a great idea to integrate it into the film as it works as an action scene and character dynamic.
Another feature Die Another Day tries to integrate is CGI which was becoming more and more ubiquitous in the industry at this point. Computer-generated effects had been used in other Bond films, but it really stands out here and, unfortunately, it’s the scenes that don’t work that stand out. The most infamous is the invisible car. Not only is it gimmicky and pointless, but the CGI doesn’t work well enough to make it seem realistic. It looks like something out of a comic book and not a serious action film. Also, egregiously, it has the noisiest engine in film which makes it impossible not to hear coming. Bond surfing on the waves in Iceland looks too much like a cartoon, and why was there a need for Bond to shoot a CGI bullet at the audience in the opening walk? If you have a team who have done wonderful practical effects throughout their careers, just use them where you can.
Unfortunately, the tech has aged the film too much. This is common in films of this era and will probably be true of movies shot today in 20 years but seeing Zao use a Sony Eriksson flip phone dates the movie. At one point Bond unplugs a CCTV camera and you think, surely, they could hide cameras in the walls? Also, the VR simulation scenes are a bit lame, an excuse to have an action scene without any set-up. And the final scene where Moneypenny uses the machine to simulate necking with James Bond begs the question who wrote that program? Q?
Most of the issues come with the film aging, which all films do. In that respect, it’s a struggle to see why critics and audiences attacked this movie upon its release. True, some of the dialogue and exposition is cliched and clumsily delivered. I thought the introduction of Gustav Graves was an example of this with journalists asking him questions in an attempt to develop his character.
However, when seeing the bonus features, you find out that they had one morning to shoot this scene outside of Buckingham Palace and were constantly interrupted by tourists, police and the changing of the guard. Some of Bond’s come-ons are a bit cringe when watching it with a modern perspective, but you could put that down to the nature of the character. It’s hard to make dialogue-heavy scenes work when everyone in the audience is familiar with Basil Exposition in the Austin Powers movies.
A nice touch in Die Another Day is the nods to the fans who have been from the franchise since the beginning or have watched all the movies in anticipation of this. Because it is the 40th anniversary, a myriad of little nods and winks were given to fans in the forms of in-jokes, props, and pieces of dialogue from the previous 19 films. These included the armoury of past gadgets in Q’s storeroom, the Union Flag parachute Graves uses akin to The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), and the hall of mirrors Bond walks through in Cuba that drum up memories of The Man With The Golden Gun (1974). They are nice little nods to a series that has endured.
Case For:
Pierce Brosnan as Bond is as good as ever and true to the character.
The plot moves at a good pace between North Korea, Cuba, London, and Iceland. It is well paced with a good balance of exposition and action.
The practical effects, stunts and locations are great. When the computer-generated imagery isn’t too overused you can really see the hard work of a team who know what they are doing.
Case Against:
The CGI needs work in some areas, particularly in the scene where Bond is surfing with a parachute attached. It looks slightly cartoonish.
The tech hasn’t aged well at all. The invisible car doesn’t make any sense, Zao’s Sony Ericksson phone looks out of place, the VR simulation scene is a bit silly.
Some of the dialogue and exposition clichéd and clumsily delivered.
What The Critics Said:
“By the end of Die Another Day, the character’s potential to wind up beaten and broken has vanished amid the pixels and laser beams.” Keith Phipps — AV Club
“What makes this the best Bond in years is the surefootedness of Brosnan’s performance, as well as Tamahori’s fanboy insistence on covering all bases.” John O’Connell — Time Out
“The film is so fraught with explosions and chases that the action eventually feels numbing.” Claudia Puig — USA Today
Conclusion:
It is still worth a watch. Not everyone is in for those gritty, raw, and visceral style movies. They want to be entertained. Die Another Day is definitely entertaining, and if you can withstand the cliches, it’s a great choice for movie night. It’s a movie that never feels bloated and keeps up the pace with some great action sequences.