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| Die Another Day is the twentieth official Bond movie, and 2002 marks the fortieth anniversary of the franchise's first movie, Dr. No. The passing of time is neatly referenced by John Cleese�s superb new Q, telling Bond that his gadget-packed new watch will be his twentieth. The nostalgia gains more momentum in the Q-Department�s storage rooms, where we see the Acrostar jet and dummy crocodile from Octopussy, and the jetpack from Thunderball, among other vintage equipment. This time out, 007 gets a beautiful new Aston Martin Vanquish, which enjoys a superb duel with a similarly deadly Jaguar. Bond indulges in a little fencing duel himself, and meets yet another Bond girl (Halle Berry, playing Jinx) portrayed by an actress who insists she�s not like all the other Bond girls who�ve gone before. Change the record, love. 007�s nemesis in Die Another Day is Gustav Graves (Toby Stevens), seemingly yet another nasty millionaire toff with an evil plan. In fact, he�s nicked Blofeld�s ultimate weapon from Diamonds Are Forever, in a bid to help North Korea conquer her southern counterpart. Graves is worryingly over-the-top at first, but the explanation for his character is so good, it is quickly forgiven. Like his GoldenEye-directing countryman, Maori director Lee Tamohoari has come up trumps with a Bond film as good as Brosnan�s debut. Quite apart from the satisfying amount of action, and the kind of relentless pace that The World Is Not Enough lacked, there is great wit on display here. Not the Roger Moore-style cringe-worthy puns and stupid slapstick that so befouled that era, but genuinely amusing scenes. Brosnan is now 007 in a way that only Connery has managed before, both actors displaying the winning combination of stone-cold killer and suave, urbane ladies� man that the other Bonds lacked at least one of. I was dubious when I heard about Bond being captured in the opening sequence, only to be freed months later. But it works incredibly well, giving the story more impetus than usual. The movie does sacrifice a little pace after the location-hopping first half, but the ice palace and plane segments make up for it. This is a must-see on the big screen film, the best action movie of the year. It�s a shame about Madonna�s theme song. I�d welcome a return to the big, brassy, over-the-top songs that Shirley Bassey used to belt out. They fit the films so much better. Everything about Bond should be somewhat over-the-top. I say give Robbie Williams a shot. 10/10 |
| DIE ANOTHER DAY Director: Lee Tamahori Producers: Michael G. Wilson & Barbara Broccoli Screenplay: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade UK Release Date: 20/11/2002 Certificate: 12A Official Website |