Bond On Ice
After 40 Years, 007 Keeps His Cool

Earlier this year, a lot of people started worrying about the aging 007 franchise in light of the returning spy spoof Austin Powers and the new, X-games secret agent xXx. In Die Another Day (the 20th film), James Bond makes it clear that he is still the supreme spy and always as cool as they come.

Die Another Day
James Bond's Aston Martin V12 Vanquish gets a jump on Zao's Jaguar XKR in Die Another Day. (MGM, 2002)
Directed by: Lee Tamahori
Written by: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, based on characters by Ian Fleming
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike, Rick Yune, Judi Dench, John Cleese, and Michael Madsen

Rated PG-13 (for action violence and sexuality)
Running time: 123 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 7 out of 10.

In his fourth outing as James Bond, Pierce Brosnan takes a globe-trotting adventure that begins in North Korea. There Bond sets out to disrupt a diamonds-for-weapons sale. In the process, Bond's identity as a British spy is discovered (making me wonder why that doesn't happen more often). Despite a daring escape attempt, he is captured and tortured by the North Koreans. His identity has been disavowed by the British government.

When Bond is freed, it is clear that his days as a spy for MI-6 may be over. So he escapes from the hospital and and searches for the one man who may hold a key to his betrayal: Zao (Rick Yune), a North Korean agent who was traded for Bond's freedom.

Bond's efforts to track down Zao lead him first to Cuba, where he meets the evocative and lethal Jinx (Academy Award winner Halle Berry). The only clue remaining from that run-in are some suspected "conflict" diamonds that bear the mark of Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), one of the world's wealthiest diamond exporters.

As they say, the more things change the more they stay the same. Although the story is original, it's not hard to see shades of previous Bond films in Die Another Day. The villains may have changed from the Soviets to the North Koreans, but the stakes are equal. World domination is almost always the goal, and there's always a crackpot genius with an idea how to do it.

There are still femme fatales and high-tech gadgets galore. Berry is enjoyable as Jinx, but (despite recent Hollywood rumors) I don't think she could spin off into her own movie. Berry may have star power, but Jinx is merely one more Bond girl. Seductive, yet powerful, she compliments Bond nicely. Still, it is Bond who saves her (more than once), not the other way around.

More importantly, the film reunites all the veteran cast (including Judi Dench as "M," John Cleese as "Q," and Samantha Bond as Moneypenny). Cleese, you may remember, was brought in as "R" in The World is Not Enough to replace the aging Desmond Llewelyn who died shortly afterward. Cleese's sharp wit provides a nice bit of verbal sparring for Bond. The spy-struck Moneypenny, however, steals the show in a fantastic seduction scene with Bond.

The best thing about Bond is the utterly predictable nature of his films. There will always be car chases, shoot-outs, explosions, double-entendres, and beautiful women. I am always satisfied when I see a Bond film because it fulfills these expectations. If it did less, I would be annoyed. If it did more, I would be surprised. If Bond can continue providing these essentials, he will always reign supreme.

Brosnan is certainly up to the task. Although Die Another Day is his fourth run as Bond, he shows no sign of wear. Recently he announced that he would extend his contract to do fifth film.

All the new secret agents in Hollywood won't replace the original. As long as there is evil in the world, there will always be a need for Bond. The world has never been in more capable hands.