Ah, Mr. Bond. We've been expecting you... (James Bond - Die Another Day (Ultimate Edition, 2 DVDs))

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	James Bond - Die Another Day (Ultimate Edition, 2 DVDs)
Date:	12/01/03 (165 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brosnan and Berry, Cleese, All the other usual Bond stuff

Disadvantages: Madonna's theme tune, Madonna's acting, Not much else

Happy birthday, Mr. Bond.

What can I possibly say about the newest James Bond movie? Probably nothing new, that's for sure - Bond opinions are like Bond movies. All the same elements are there, the only difference being the styles of the authors, just like the only differences in the movies being the styles of the directors.

However, back to the film. I came to this Bond late, because (he says, showing off) I've been in New Zealand until recently, and it was only released there on Jan 2nd. So, I've been home for two weeks, getting over jet lag and a miserable bout of something 'flu like, feeling sorry for myself and wishing I was in foreign climes, sunning myself on the beach, sipping vodka martinis (shaken, not stirred) watching scantily clad females parade around.

I managed to talk a friend into going to see it for the second time, and off we trundled, armed with nachos and pick 'n' mix to see how exactly Mr. Bond was going to save the world yet again.

Starting off with the usual pre-credits action sequence (expect this opinion to repeat the phrase "the usual" quite a bit), Bond is in North Korea, attempting to kill Colonel Moon, who is buying diamonds off an un-named African country in return for arms. Things go a tad pear shaped, and it's up to Bond to put things right, hopefully before the naked dancing chicks appear for the opening credits. As you might expect, this he does with his usual aplomb, only to get captured by Col. Moon's dad, General Moon.

The opening credits are a bit different from usual in that, the film continues within the credits, presumably to emphasise how long Bond is in captivity for (14 months, if you must know). The credits, at least visually, are up to the usually high standard of Bond movies, although I found the title song, sung by Madonna, to be absolutely dire.

So then we get into the film properly. The plot in brief would be thus:
<
br><
br>Bond gets captured. Bond is tortured (not by having to listen to Madonna, mind you, but the less painful injection of scorpion venom) for 14 months and released, in return for A BAD GUY. Bond suspects that he has been betrayed by someone, and rather than listen to M, who "suggests" he goes for some recovery and recuperation, he promptly scarpers into the real world to exact some revenge, and if the world is saved along the line, then so be it.

So, slightly deviating from a normal Bond plot (although at times reminiscent of "Licence to Kill" which also involved betrayal and a renegade Bond), you still feel instantly at home. The James Bond vibe is still there, and everything is still going smoothly (although Madonna is still haunting me!).

It's Bond's 20th official outing and 40th anniversary, and tipping a hat to what has gone before, there are plenty of things to watch out for during this film other than just the normal plot. I won't name all of them, but watch out for scenes which pay homage to previous Bond adventures, some are obvious, some are not.

It's a great pity that Desmond Llewelyn died recently (December 1999), as Q, he had appeared in all but of the official Bond outings (ever since "From Russia With Love"). Personally, I loved his character, and his relationship / scenes with Bond were always one of the high points of any Bond movie. I had my doubts about John Cleese taking up the role, but I am glad to say that he does a great job. The relationship with this new Q is slightly different - more contempt for Bond than the father/naughty son of Llewelyn, but that doesn't make it any less funny.

As usual, saving the world takes more than a 73 bus into town, and in this adventure, we're treated to exotic scenes such as Cuba and Iceland, providing stunning landscapes. The ice hotel is another exceedingly stunning set. Quality of locations and set designs
are always o
ne of the few things which the Bond series excels at, and Bond 20 is no different. In fact, all the usual high quality pieces you expect from Bond are here: set designs, foreign locations, special effects (for the most part) and stunt work.

There was a big thing made about the fact that this time, Bond would be driving an Aston Martin once again. Unlike years ago, however, what is there to get excited about? You can only assume that car manufacturers the world over are busting to get their cars into a James Bond film. No doubt BMW are slapping their backs at their product placement in the previous three Bond movies, and probably made their money thousands of times over from the sales of the BMW Z3 alone, never mind the BMW 750/motorbike in Tomorrow Never Dies, or the Z8 in TWINE. However, despite not being a car fan, the two main cars featured in this one are gorgeous. The Aston is a lovely car, reminiscent of the Bond cards of old, and Zao's Jaguar is a real smooth looking car (although what moron drives around in a convertible in Iceland in the middle of winter?).

It's not all plain sailing though! I have two main complaints about Die Another Day. Firstly (in order of "appearance"), Madonna's theme tune is atrocious. I like David Arnold immensely and think he's updated the James Bond sound whilst still keeping the same feel to it, but in this case, the theme tune is just?urgh. Secondly, actually, still firstly, sort of? I know that Bond movies aren't good vehicles for actors to showcase their acting talents, but hell bells, Madonna couldn't even raise her game for the one short scene she had! It was perhaps appropriate that the scene I which she appeared featured fencing, because her acting supplied enough wood to surround Buckingham Palace.

Secondly, I'd never heard of Toby Stephens before watching this movie, but by God, every time he appeared on screen, all I could do was think o
f Rik Mayall. Rik
Mayall is not a Bond bad guy ("Vyvyan, I demand you kill Mr. Bond immediately"), and Mr. Stephens' gurning during various scenes didn't help dispel this resemblance. In fact the last few Bond baddies haven't been that great (although those in TWINE were a step in the right direction). I know the world has moved on, but come on! Has everyone forgotten about SPECTRE? Blofeld may be dead, but I doubt the whole organisation crumbled after his demise?

Surprisingly, Lee Tamahori elects not to use Joe Don Baker's character of CIA agent Jack Wade. I thought that his introduction in Goldeneye brought two things: a hark back to the days of Felix Leiter, and a touch of humour in his relationship with Bond. I thought he was a great returning character to have, and it's a pity he didn't appear here (although there were plenty of opportunities!).

Lee Tamahori brings a darker, sharper edge to Bond in this outing. Obviously with Bond being captured and tortured for 14 months right at the very start, it wasn't going to be the usual bright, happy Bond outing, and this isn't a bad thing. However, I may be growing up (some might argue that point), but it seems to me that at least with this Bond and rather like this opinion, it's more of a series of set pieces rather than a full flowing story from start to finish. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it for the most part, because I did. The entire two hours flew by, and I never looked at my watch once, and I got sucked in once again as I usually do. I like Brosnan as Bond, and while this is by no means anywhere near the best Bond ever, it's still head and shoulders above most the the other spy capers out there.

Just as an aside: after the pre-credits sequence and titles, for some reason I got it into my head that Bond would finally get some social interaction with Moneypenny (even if just a platonic dinner). This wasn't the case,
although there are some laug
hs to be had!

So, for a brief review:
Pre-credit sequence - check!
Beautiful Bond girls: mais oui!
Q Scene, plus gadgets galore: yup!
Glorious cars: oh yes!
Bond destroys bad guy's HQ: erm? sort of!
Plenty of action, innuendo and witty lines: certainly!
Bond saves the day and gets his end away: of course!
Memorable theme tune: Alas, yes, but not for the same reasons as the other 19.

Once again, I am amazed by the Bond franchise. Every other cinematic franchise the world over gets criticised for giving the audience the same thing over and over again, but the Bond series actually makes this a selling point. In fact, even recent Bond clone, XXX, which tried to pass itself off as the new Bond, just basically was a Bond clone with a muscled up hero. The team which puts Bond together has some sort of magic, as only they can bung out this formula and make it work. Forty years may have passed, the world may have changed, but Bond hasn't. Bad for the competitors, good for Bond!

Pierce Brosnan - James Bond
Halle Berry - Jinx
Toby Stephens - Gustav Graves
Rosamund Pike - Miranda Frost
Rick Yune - Zao
Judi Dench - M
John Cleese - Q
Michael Madsen - Damian Falco
Will Yun Lee - Colonel Moon
Kenneth Tsang - General Moon
Lawrence Makoare - Mr. Kil
Colin Salmon - Charles Robinson
Samantha Bond - Miss Moneypenny

Director: Lee Tamahori

Running time: 132 min

Summary: