"I know all about you. Sex for dinner. Death for breakfast." (Miranda Frost, to James Bond)
I've gotten some flack from other about my contempt for this particular James Bond. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion..but this is my blog, so. I would appreciate a counter point in the comments if you must disagree with my assessment.
Until recently, Die Another Day was the only Bond I had never seen. I wanted to like it. But, I couldn't. Bad is Bad. (And Halle Berry makes the film worse despite her attractiveness.)
I understand and appreciate that a "Bond" film will have a certain degree of undeniable campyness- in fact I like that, but Die Another Day is well beyond camp and into the mythical realm of GI Joe and Cobra. It's loose fitting extremist tropes and aloof plot are barely capable of leading the viewer to the next gadget and vehicle. I'm all in favor of conflict diamond launderers with Ice Palaces that control a satellite of death attempting to blow up the DMZ. But for all that potential, Die Another Day is an unwelcome assault on the genre.
Here is a list of the different types of vehicles use in this Bond. Plane, Hovercraft, Surfboard, High speed ice thingee, Boat, Air glider, and an Invisible car. Yes, it is a little over the top.
On a scale of Jinx to Pussy Galore, I give Die Another Day 2 out of 5 stars.
Well written, but I disagree Bond is at its best when it is over the top and cheesy. Halle Berry is the perfect Bond Women, she can't act and I would even argue isn't that hot, but she exudes a seductiveness that makes it work. Recent "realist" bonds I think are awful, for me I will take any Pierce Brosnan edition over a Daniel Craig one, even this one. Yes Die another Day is silly and ridiculous but that is the point, plus the bad guy in this is awesome. He has a special machine to help him dream so that he doesn't go insane. Guess what? It didn't work. This movie is to cool, and the Madonna theme is great as well. This is not the best bond but deserves some respect as an outlier into the almost farcical nature of the genre.
ReplyDeleteI only agree about with your Pierce Brosnan over Daniel Craig if we exclude everything but Goldeneye.
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