It’s almost an established fact that Goldeneye is the best last Bond Movie to be succeeded by nothing to match it. Proof: DIE ANOTHER DAY.....it’s one of the worst Bond movies ever. What started as a good movie franchise in Dr. No has come to this and Craig as Bond. I’ve already watched this movie in theater - when it was released. Then it seemed normal. But after watching Goldfinger,
The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only I realized what a dirty 007 this is! Pierce Brosnan was great as a Bond when Goldeneye was released. It’s very interesting to note that after the flop of License To Kill, there was some problem among the Producers and so for a whole long period of 6 years no Bond movie was made- the longest drought in Bond-dom. Brosnan’s performance was golden in Goldeneye, uplifting the series to new heights. But look at this movie - is it to compare with Goldeneye? Certainly not !
Plot: The plot is that a North Korean General is interested in gaining control over conflict diamonds. Bond gets arrested by Korean military during the process of spying General’s activities. What surprises Bond is that someone reveals his true Identity to Koreans. 18 months later when Bond comes out of prison he is least trusted by M with whom he argues to prove he didn’t leak secrets favoring his life over mission. Till here the movie seems to be pretty strong but something happens which really is unbelievable : To escape, Mr Bond has supernatural control over his heart and its beat-rate.
At a stage his heartbeat nears zero making it seem to be a cardiac arrest. Immediately a nurse tries to help in increasing Bond’s breathing process with a ..... lip-lock. Then Bond springs up his heart beat to normalcy, wakes up and tells the lady nurse : "Thanks For the Kiss Of Life (Tamil Dubbing: Oru Mutthatthala Enna Kaappathune !!!)". For a moment even my heartbeat stopped seeing this miracle(maybe James Bond can replace the Christian Missionaries working miracles with the baptism of the Holy Spirit ! ).
Then Bond escapes to Cuba where he meets Halle Berry, encounters Zao and then flies back to London where he is assigned the task of tracking Gustav Graves ( in this flick the villain works 24/7 ... there’s no sleep for him because there’s lot of time after death ... miracle #2). Then Brosnan sits like a weakling inside the Aston Martin and drives it heroically. A henchman tells him:
"I’m Mr Kill".
Bond replies : "Well, There’s a name to die for ! ". No wonder people criticized watching this crap by paying money to see a Bond made up like a pathetic famine-struck Somalian. There’s a scene when Bond takes an about turn and hits a gunman when the gunman gets hit without using his gun ! Then he’s saved by Miranda Frost, another chilling beauty with whom Bond casually beds. The Tamil dubbing added to the crap :
Miranda (in bed) : "Mr Bond you are very fast in everything". Bond : "That’s my style". Then Miranda Frost betrays Bond and after some cheap Rambo fights and display of gadgets like the invisible car, ultrasonic(or whatsoever) ring and a million-volt generating device which doesn’t burn humans to ashes(miracle #3), Bond fights and defeats Zao and Graves. I must mention that the performance and looks of Gustav Graves is much better than Brosnan’s. All in all a great piece of adventure but what lacks is the suaveness present in every 007 movie making it feel more like a cheap Chinese Kung Fu flick. I agree invisibility under research makes 007 producers launch an invisible car. But why use it in such a cheap Chinese like stunt movie? Even Halle Berry’s asset display couldn’t make it a movie worth watching!
What blots this movie out is not the lie that Brosnan wasn’t a good Bond as many say but that that the direction task was handed over to Lee Tamahori, an inexperienced guy unlike Martin Campbell of GE and C Royale. How smart are the Producers - they use Pierce Brosnan to revive 007 then deteriorate him by making him like a comedian in this movie before hiring Daniel Craig ..... nice ways to make money ! Maybe for others he’s a polished Gentleman forgotten, but for me Brosnan was a fine Bond though he has missing elements. Though Craig is tough he doesn’t look like Bond, he looks more like a thug. Moore and Connery are the finest of the series.
Conclusion : Die Another Day .... if watched with high expectations can kill you the same damn day !
Memorable Quotes:
Graves:
[Miranda point her gun at Graves] So... Ms. Frost is not all she seems.
James Bond:
Looks can be deceptive.
Graves:
Yes. But the way, did you find out who betrayed you in North Korea?
James Bond:
Only a matter of time.
Graves:
You never even thought of looking inside your own organization?
[Miranda turns against MI6 by pointing the gun at James]
Graves:
She was right under your nose.
Miranda Frost:
[James shoots, but his gun is empty] It was so good of you to bring your gun in bed with us.
James Bond:
Yes. Occupational hazard.
[throws the empty pistol on the floor]
Graves:
You see, I have a gift. An instinct for sensing people’s weaknesses.
Yours is women. Hers and mine are winning, whatever the cost. So when I
arranged for that fatal overdose for the true victor at Sydney, I won
myself my very own MI6 agent, using everthing at my disposal - her
brains, her talent, even her sex.
James Bond:
The coldest weapon of all.
Masseuse:
I’m not that kind of masseuse.
[Bond then grabs her hand, and grabs the gun in her inner thigh holster]
James Bond:
I’m not that kind of customer.
Graves:
Ya see Mr. Bond, you can’t kill my dreams. But my dreams can kill you. Time to face destiny.
[James pulls Graves’ parachute cord]
James Bond:
Time to face gravity.
Miranda Frost:
I know all about you - sex for dinner, death for breakfast.
James Bond:You didn’t think I knew that you were always Chinese intelligence Chang?
Mr. Chang:
Hong Kong’s our turf now, Bond.
James Bond:
Well, don’t worry. I’m not here to take it back.