Halle Berry in Die Another Day (2002)
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After receiving tons of critical acclaim (and numerous awards) for his 1994 drama Once Were Warriors, Kiwi-director Lee Tamahori followed the call of money and fame by subsequently moving to Hollywood. The only thing Tamahoris first three American releases Mulholland Falls, The Edge and Along Came a Spider obviously had in common with his previous works was that they all shared the same director. As a result the critics disliked each of those movies and each (except for Along Came a Spider) turned out to be a major financial flop. Nevertheless the New Zealander was given another chance when chosen to direct the twentieth official outing of the James Bond series – and, at least according to Die Another Day’s undeniable box-office success, he took it!
Pierce Brosnan is accompanied by fellow veterans of the series Judi Dench (Iris), John Cleese (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) and last but not least Samantha Bond (What Rats Won’t Do) as M’s faithful secretary Monepenny. For the obligatory role of the "Bond Girl", the filmmakers again (after Sophie Marceau and Denise Richards in The World is Not Enough) cast an actress that has already had her share of success, namely Academy Award winner Halle Berry (Monster’s Ball), while the second major female part is played by Rosamund Pike, a lovely newcomer who has previously only been known for roles in British made-for-TV productions like the mini series Wives and Daughters. The second important decision was the choice of the major villains Bond has to deal with. To that end we're offered Toby Stephens, another British actor who currently also stars opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in Neil LaBute’s Possession, and Asian-American Rick Yune from The Fast and the Furious.
Die Another Day opens with a nicely photographed surfing scene that features Bond and two of his colleagues secretly entering an island to thwart Colonel Moon (Will Yun Lee, What’s Cooking?), a renegade of the North Korean army, from black marketing weapons in exchange for flawless South African diamonds. In the process of a spectacular high-speed hovercraft chase, set in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea Moon gets killed while 007 ends up on the edge of a huge waterfall having to decide whether to jump or to be caught by General Moon (Kenneth Tsang, Rush Hour 2), the deceased’s father.
What sets this movie apart from its predecessors is that the opening sequence doesn’t end with Bond elegantly escaping the scenery thanks to one of his little gimmicks. Instead we see him him being imprisoned by the angry General Moon. The subsequently emerging main titles break with another installment of the series since they intercut the usual silhouettes of at least partially naked women with images of 007 being tortured by Moon and his henchmen.
After fourteen months Bond is finally being exchanged for Zao (Yune), a Korean agent who was also involved in the arms deal that got the secret agent apprehended in the first place. However, M (Dench) didn’t organise this to save 007, but because of believing that his cracking was responsible for the death of an American agent. Thus it’s now up to Bond to escape from his own people in order to find out who’s the source for the events in question. The diamond trail leads him back to London and to the shady adventurer Gustav Graves (Stephens) and his PR agent Miranda Frost (Pike), a former Olympic fencer…
Critics and especially general audiences were pretty hard on Die Another Day for disobeying several of the series’ basic rules. This would be at least partially be understandable if those renovations were total failures but they aren’t. In my opinion several of them, especially the terrific title sequence, were a smart step in the right direction of giving the series a more modern and stylish look. I’m almost ashamed having to admit that I even liked Madonna’s title song Die Another Day which is definitely way better than her cameo as a fencing instructor.
One of the actual main problems with Die Another Day is the weak effects work, particularly those of the blue-screen variety. Of course there are also lots of good effects (e.g. the hovercraft chase), but it’s impossible to overlook that the filmmakers relied too much on CGI instead of sticking to one trademark of former Bond flicks: breathtaking stunt work. In this case a little bit of “back to the roots” would have been useful!
Brosnan is charming as always though I couldn’t help but get the feeling that he may reveal some signs of aging. However, this impression could also be the result of the screenplay providing Bond with more vulnerability and less one-liners than usual. Not sure about that… Halle Berry throws in a very sympathetic and sexy performance but she doesn’t actually bring much to it aside from this while newcomer Rosamund Pike is excellent as her evil counterpart. Pike shows that she is not only a talented young actress but also physically up to the standards a movie like this requires. The standout performance, however, comes from Rick Yune in the classic role of the henchman. Of course this character is as one-dimensional as they come but Yune’s charisma more than makes up for that. I really would have loved the story to focus more on him instead of the terribly annoying Toby Stephens who together with Judi Dench provides the low points as far as the acting is concerned. While lame Dame Dench proves beyond any doubt that her time as “M” has to come to an end as soon as possible Stephens’ interpretation of Gustav Graves is plain unbearable. He completely lacks the characteristic that makes out all classic Bond villains: they were bad to the bone but also charismatic and intelligent enough to make them some sort of likeable (at least in a Hannibal Lecter kind of way). It’s a shame that legends like Gert Fröbe’s Goldfinger or Christopher Lee’s Scaramanga are followed up by such a geek!
All in all, Die Another Day is quite a schizophrenic flick. In the first half the filmmakers apparently wanted to make it as realistic as a Bond movie can get - only to hammer this impression over the rest of the runtime by introducing one of the most stupid gadgets ever (the invisible car) and having Bond perform a series of wholly ridiculous stunts. But these are only minor distractions from the fact that Die Another Day is also a highly enjoyable movie full of non-stop action that is upgraded by an overall great cast, some nice editing (by Christian Wagner and Andrew MacRitchie), and David Tattersall’s neat cinematography (e.g. the gorgeous interiors of the ice palace). Way better than XXX!!!
Nudity Report: Halle Berry essentially recreates Ursula Andress' famous Dr. No entrance (complete with a knife strapped to her waist) emerging from the waters of Havana in a stunning two-piece bikini. Later on she's in a chase and her skirt goes flying up to reveal a pair of panties. Before jumping backwards off a cliff into the ocean Berry strips down to her bikini again to entice two soldiers. The lovely Rosamund Pike can be seen undressing in front of Brosnan with her back to the camera. We are treated with very partial looks at the side of her breasts as well as some nice cleavage especially during the grande finale when she's in a very sexy fencing outfit to duel it out with Halle Berry.
Critics: IMDB: 6.4 out of 10 (10295 votes). James Berardinelli: 2/4. Roger Ebert: 3/4. Apollo: 75. Apollo Readers: 78. Udo: 3/4. Brosnan’s best to date despite Toby Stephens, an uneven story, and some lame special effects.
Box Office: Shot for $142 million it up to now grossed more than $400 million all over the world.
Versions: According to director Lee Tamahori, the American theatrical release had to be slightly cut for sexuality in order to maintain a “PG-13” rating. Nevertheless the European version doesn’t contain any actual nudity, either, only a bit more moaning and movement.
Written by: Udo Baumann, Skin Central Germany