For many people the fact that this is bond will be enough to see them part with their money and happily sit down to be entertained and amazed for 2 hours.
For others the knowledge that Pierce Brosnan still has the 'double 0' number is persuasive enough (surely the truest and best bond since Sir Sean).
For everyone else a good film is required, and in my opinion it delivers. Some of the special effects are a little unbeliveable but there's enough new material and a touch in cheek action to cover this. The car fight scene on the ice is one of the best bond scenes in recent memory, and the tour through the gadgets workshop featuring many items from previous films is a nice touch (this is the 20th and provoked many injokes - notable one involving a watch).
The film starts off in Korea for Bond's now famous opening title sequence, this involves his ultimate capture and him injuring the lead henchman (Xang). From here we eventually see him released and a plot develope involving a diamond merchant (Gustav Graves) who seems to be able to go without sleep.
MI5 have been investigating this man, however have come up with nothing, which is where James comes in. It turns out that the diamond merchant has not only discovered a way to go without sleep but also has a way of changing his appearance and the appearance of any criminal who has enough money to aford the procedure.
This leads Bond to meet a CIA agent (Halle Berry) who is also investigating the matter and the two decide to team up (in more ways that one).
The action finally shifts to an ice palace owned by Graves where he is unearthing the diamonds. It seems these diamonds are to be used in a high powered lazer which is intended to be used to destroy the demilitarised zone between north and south Korea (bringing the film full circle) which is mounted on an airship. It is on this airship where the final battle takes place and the villians agenda and identity are finally revielled.
I always feel that a bond film relies heavily on it's baddies, in order to give our hero a worthy fight. The two main villians here are adequate (especially the sword fight) however you never feel terrified by either of them. I feel the surprise baddie (I won't spoil it) is much more entertaining.
My final point is to Halle Barry. Yes this is her OSCAR winning year, and yes, the year she was crowded sexiest woman in the worls (FHM), and yes alot was made of her in this film. However (and here's where I make myself unpopular) I don't think she's that good in this film. There's certainly chemistry between her and Pierce, but all of her lines sound like they belong in a '70s blaxploitation film. Or they were planning on using them as sound bites when her character launches her own film franchise. I think they have tried to move too much of the limelight away from bond and it ended up a bit annoying (has never happened with any other bond girl, or bond helper).
Overall though a fun and entertaining film, worthy of the bond name.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 2008 - Action/Adventure - Director: Christopher Nolan - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Hi - good review but you seem to have written a review of Die Another Day in the wrong section.
President-X-D 06.08.2003 14:52
good short review. sure you could have gone into more detail about the idea of Bond, but who DOESN'T know by now what 007 is all about?
SueMagee 06.08.2003 14:39
It's always useful when you're reviewing a film or a book to give an outline of the plot (no spoilers though!) as this helps people to decide if it's something they'd like to see/read. Sue.
Advantages: stunning action set pieces, stunning locations, stunning Michelle Yeoh, stunning music by David Arnold Disadvantages: Carver's henchman needs to have more character, more inhumanity in a comic book way
very helpful by (17%):
helpful by (83%):
