Having It Both Ways

Fans of the James Bond series are often divided between those who want a suspenseful, character-driven film (Dr. No, From Russia With Love, On Her Majesty's Secret Service) and those who are looking for big sets, outrageous stunts and globe-trotting thrills (You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker.) The twentieth entry in EON's series has something for both camps.

After the usual spectacular opening action scene, the film takes us where no other film in the series' forty-year history has gone. Bond, captured and tortured for fourteen months in a North Korean prison, is shown at his lowest ebb, beaten, bedraggled, betrayed and hopeless, fully expecting to die. Even his own colleagues, who know better than anyone the man's remarkable resolve, seem justified in assuming that he has been broken. This goes far beyond the ragged Sean Connery emerging from the air ducts of Dr. No's lair or even the physically and emotionally exhausted Timothy Dalton contemplating the inadequacy of his pyrotechnic revenge against Franz Sanchez. Pierce Brosnan's Bond is reduced to the animal reserves Ian Fleming put at the core of his character, and Brosnan does an admirable job of portraying the depth of those reserves.

Brosnan's performance deserves special mention. From a slightly stiff and uncomfortable start in GoldenEye Brosnan has improved with each film until he now seems a perfect fit in Bond's skin. And it's not just that he can handle the trappings of the role, not just that he looks good in Brioni suits or handles a vodka martini well. Some of Brosnan's best acting in Die Another Day comes while he is wearing rags and hasn't seen a barber in over a year. That's still unquestionably James Bond telling General Moon to "Take it up with the concierge," or strolling confidently into a five-star hotel in water-soaked hospital pajamas and demanding and getting the best room in the place. I loved Bond's response to the manager's "Hong Kong belongs to us now." His "I'm not here to take it back," carried just the right bravado and you could almost hear the unstated assertion that, of course, he could if he wanted to.

This evocation of the best of Fleming and of the best aspects of the film series continues, with only minor missteps, (when did 007 learn Derek Flint's stop-your-heart trick?) through the entire first half of the film. The scenes with Judi Dench's M are excellent and John Cleese proves as superb a successor to Desmond Llewelyn as could be wished. The Cuban "sleeper" agent is reminiscent of such Fleming characters as Kerim Bey, Colombo and Marc Ange Draco; you just know he has a warm, dry handshake. His interactions with the Chinese agent covered as the hotel manager harken back to Valentin Zukovsky, two professionals who may not be on the same side but recognize where their interests coincide.

Halle Berry's Jinx is a rather under-developed character for the amount of screen time she occupies. Next to Brosnan's Bond (which, to be fair, he has had four films to perfect) she seems two-dimensional. A little more dialog about her past, perhaps a few more details of her relationships that "don't seem to last," would have helped make her more believable. She does look very good in a bikini, however.

Starting with Bond's escape from Graves lair, the film makes a sharp turn into the last half of Tomorrow Never Dies. The action becomes non-stop and overwhelming. The rocket car escape and the CGI para-surfing should have been cut entirely. They should have let Bond make his escape in the invisible car (which worked for me much better than it really had any right to; I guess I was willing to give it a break because of the goodwill the excellent first hour had earned) and gone right to the battle of the cars and the rescue of Jinx in the Ice Palace. The fiery finale on the cargo plane also strained credulity, with its exterior view of a plane falling apart in flaming chunks while remaining in fairly level flight, and retaining functionality of all the systems Bond and Jinx need to escape.

Both of Purvis and Wade's Bond films have seemed somewhat schizophrenic, with excellent character-driven scenes interspersed with action scenes that seem to come from a different film. In The World Is Not Enough the action was muddled, murky, poorly choreographed and very hard to follow. Denise Richards notwithstanding, the action scenes were the film's weakest element. In Die Another Day the action is easy enough to understand. One doesn't have to wonder what the hell Bond is doing with that hydraulic hose or why he thinks it's a good idea to just stand around waiting for the final two parahawks to collide. But it does become too much, and too unbelievable. Note to EON: lose the CGI and spend the money on real stunts.

I doubt EON could have gotten away with the kind of smaller, character- and suspense-driven film I would have really preferred. For their twentieth film on the fortieth anniversary, I'm sure they felt they needed something big and loud, and as big and loud Bond films go this one was quite entertaining. The first half of the film was a terrific gift for the old-time Fleming fans, and the spot-the-reference game will make this fun to rewatch. Brosnan's portrayal of Bond keeps getting better with each film. Hopefully his next (which should probably be his last, before we get into late Roger Moore territory) will have the courage to stay with the spirit of the better half of this one.

Copyright © 2002 Barry King