Die Another Day
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Reviewing a James Bond film is not unlike reviewing the latest sandwich at a fast-food franchise. It's not that much different from any of their other sandwiches, fast-food fans are going to buy it anyway, and people who don't like fast food will go somewhere else. The only fair comparison is within the gadget-spy genre itself, and noting what popular trends are reflected in this year's addition to the series.
If you're not a fan of trendy double-speed zooms and edits, you'll be annoyed during the action sequences. A few years from now the heavy use will make this film seem dated, but right now it's hip. Bond breaks new ground by bedding an African-American woman, but that doesn't seem like a big deal. For decades he's been poking any woman who shows an interest (except underage skaters and Ms. Moneypenny (and what's that all about? Is Bond such a snob that he won't do Moneypenny because she's slightly less attractive than the women he does mate with? Or does his only degree of sexual propriety just happen to be "Never sleep with a subordinate coworker?" Yeah, right)). This episode's villain-du-jour is North Korean, appropriate to the recent acknowledgement of North Korea's secret nuclear weapons program. And, finally, I can't help but feel that the movie is a two-hour promo for the soon-to-be-released 007 "Die Another Day" video game. If you go, you'll get your fix of chases, hitting, exploding, shooting, kissing, and death-defying escapes. Don't look too hard for holes in the plot and embrace the clichés, and you'll find it satisfying enough. It's not the best, but it's not the worst. I suppose if you, the Reader, have never seen a James Bond film, you don't know what it's like, but then, where have you been the last thirty years?
If you liked the movies below, you'll probably like this one (and visa versa):
Eight-Facet Info Rating, rated on a scale of 0 (None) to 4 (Lots!)): |