This review contains spoilers
First off, I have to say that this was not my favorite Bond movie, but nor was it the worst IMHO. Considering the fact that Bond is 40 years old this year and has 20 movies under his piton shooting belt, it's amazing that he can entertain at all, but here he is, still going strong and bringing them into the theaters in droves, going so far as to knock off kiddie favorite Harry Potter from the top spot at the box office (thus ensuring a Bond 21). I still think the best Brosnan era Bond movies are Goldeneye and The World Is Not Enough, because they are closer to the Bond novels I have loved dearly. I've read nearly all the Flemming era novels, and most of the novels that continued "canon" Bond in the years since Flemming's death from Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, and Raymond Benson.
This film had a lot going for it at the beginning. First off, Bond is NOT indestructible, and any one who ever read the beating he took in the very first Bond novel, Casino Royale, knows just what kind of torture Bond has had to endure over the years in many of the Bond novels. People complain about this opening sequence in DAD, because they're used to Bond getting away without a scratch. I must point out that that is 'movie' Bond, not "novel' Bond. I find it a tremendous pleasure to see Bond get caught and disavowed for a time, because it's more realistic that way. He's tortured and held for 14 months, no martini's and quick getaways here. A nice break from the routine.
Pierce Brosnan, who's close to 50 years old, looks better than most men half his age, but his age is showing a bit. He's not the youthful man we met in Goldeneye, but it works well on him. Brosnan says he's going to do one more, and I think he should retire after that, giving him a very succesful run at Bond and going out while on top.
Then my choice for Bond would be Colin Farrell.
As others have outlined, the opening of the film is ultra exciting as Bond (and two agents who kind of disappeared from our radar as their helicopter is destroyed) infiltrates North Korea to get at the good Colonel Moon. The mission goes sour when Bond is revealed to be a spy by an unknown traitor, and although he assasinates the Colonel anyway, ends up with Bond being captured and disavowed by his own government, left to be tortured by the Koreans for 14 months in prison. I think I said that already
Quick note: The hovercraft chase at the beginning, with roaring hovercraft fans and engines, gunfire, exploding mines, AND Bond music, is the LOUDEST thing I have ever heard in a movie.
The theme song by Madonna was HORRIBLE. Completely and totally without merit. This is even worse than that Duran Duran song they did for Roger Moore's last outing as Bond, A View To A Kill. This is the first time a Bond film ever shows anything that advances the plot during the opening credits, and it's a freaky thing to see those computerized scorpions become real ones and sting our man, Bond. I was impressed, but actually wished I was deaf as Madonna's 'song' was played over it. Not since Tina Turner sang Goldeneye have we had a good Bond song IMHO.
After Bond is traded in a prisoner trade, M and MI-6 thinks Bond broke under torture, and keep him locked up in a kind of medical prison suite, and Judi Dench comes off like a real bitch here, as is intended. As head of MI-6 you can't be all soft hearted, and once again she adds a real touch of class to the Bond movie genre. Again, this is more like the true, novel-era Bond, then the movies, and I'm happy to see it.
Once Bond escapes from his medical prison (which is on a frigate of some kind), in a ridiculously easy fashion, and rather unexplainable stopping of his heart, the next hour of the film is mostly slow moving, except for Bond's encounter with Zao in Cuba, again reminding me far more of the Bond novels than the movies, as he chases his quarry around, using real (well, pseudo) detective work to find Zao, and the incident with Chinese intelligence in his hotel room reminds me of the novels and a different, more down to earth Bond film, harkening back to Sean Connery being taped making love in From Russia With Love. As he closes in on Zao he meets Jinx, played by Halle Berry.
Sidenote: Berry is the world's hottest female. She is a vision of pure beauty and replaces Catherine Zeta Jones on my list as the world's hottest woman.
It seems Zao is undergoing an illegal therapy that "wipes his bone marrow DNA clean" or something and uses stolen DNA from runaways and orphans to give you a completely new face and body type. It at first seems kind of fantastical but really, how far off is something like this? Impossible now, maybe, but a nice comment on where gene research may lead us, I think. The only thing I did't like was the silly mask Zao had to wear to try and get this new look. Very low tech looking plastic mask and kind of cheesy looking. It turns out Jinx is out to destroy the illegal medical clinic and sneaks in as Bond goes in search of Zao. They kind of work at cross purposes and her destroying the clinic foils Bond's assassination attempt, but he gets a clue from Zao that leads him to Gustav Graves, a millionare philanthropist. But of course. The fight between Zao and Bond through the mess that Jix creates speeds up things a bit for the action fans, and manages to advance the plot at the same time.
My one thing is, so what if Zao gets a new face? He'll still have those diamonds pock marking his face won't he?
Now that he has some evidence against Graves, who really comes off as something of a spoiled brat through the first half of the film until his true identity is confirmed, M decides that Bond has become "useful again" and secretely brings him back to the fold of MI-6.
My favorite part of this film is the sword dual between Bond and Graves. It really reminds me of something out of the Bond novels, plus it's high adventure, and very swashbuckling. The dual itself is really well played out and probably the most tense action scene in the film. I wish they had realized that as they ventured into the last half of the movie when things get bigger and weirder and just plani boring because of the size.
It's in the sword dual that we finally see that Graves is a worthy adversary for Bond both phsyically and mentally, we are also introduced to Miranda Frost and Madonna's cameo. I wish Bond had run Madonna through with his blade, but that's just me.
John Cleese takes over admirable for the departed Desmond Llewelyn as Q, I can't imagine anyone doing it better, but I am upset that they didn't mention what happened to Q. I thought it would have been nice to hear that Q passed away at home in his reitrment in the 14 months Bond was away, and have a nice little scene where Bond visits his grave and leaves something there. Sadly, no such luck.
The car, the Aston Martin "Vanquish" or as they call it in the movie, "Vanish" is actually not as crazy as I thought it would be, and the final "car battle" in the ice palace of Gustav Graves between Bond and Zao's own souped up car is more fun than I thought it would be, reminding me of two knight's jousting. It was a nice way to sum up the past car chases of Bond's cinematic history, pitting him against a villain in an equally souped up car. Usually Bond's car is the best in the biz and makes waste of everything else on the road, not so in this film. It's not a Romulan cloaking device, but actually explained by tiny cameras on either side projecting an image. It's not bending light or anything. To me it wasn't as unbelievable as some people thought it was.
There's also some nice tributes to past Bond's in Q's scene, including the sight of Rosa Kleb's shoe, and Brosnan activating Connery's jet pack from thunderball asking "does this thing still work"? When Q hands Bond his new watch, he asks that Bond actually return this one.
"How many does this make for you, Bond" He asks.
"Oh, about 20." A nice tribute to how many films there have been.
The last hour of the film involves revealing Gustave's secret plan, using the Icarus ray, which is also actually based on real technology. The Russian's tried something similar, though without the "death ray" effect in years past. But the reflecting sunlight idea has really been attempted (and succeeded for a few hours). Graves turns out to be someone else, and he wears a Power Rangers type outfit until the end battle on a plane with Bond, and it gets kind of silly then, but always exciting if you just suspend disbelief for twenty minutes or so. It's in the final scenes that this Bond completely fails. Note to Bond producers: enough with the killer satellittes. It's been done too many times before. The final battle aboard the plane and the escape in the helicopter is rather ridiculous, marring what started out to be a fantastic Bond beginning, equal to the best of the Bond films in the past.
I can actually tell you when this movie went from great to ridiculous. The very moment is when Graves chases Bond as he escapes the ice palace, using his "sun death ray". When Bond escapes by parasailing on what has to be the wrost CGI effects in the history of cinema, that's when it goes down the toilet. Up till then, it is a great Bond film.
At the very end of the credits, we see the words we all love:
James Bond Will Return
And I'll be waiting until he does, because no one, not XXX, or the Extreme Ops kiddies, stand a ghost of a chance against Bond, James Bond.
All in all it's a great movie going experience, with steps taken to remind us that the movie makers remember what made Bond in the first place, the novels. I highly recommend it if you at all like this kind of genre. It's great fun and certainly has something for everyone.
Now that the first 20 are over, and they celebrated Bond's 20th cinema outing and 40th anniversary in big style, it's time to go back and re-invent Bond by re-discovering his roots. Scale the plots DOWN. Scale the villains DOWN. Be a hardboiled spy again, ruthless and cold. Use intrigue and suspense as well as action to take us back to the glory days of Bond. That's what I'd do.
First off, I have to say that this was not my favorite Bond movie, but nor was it the worst IMHO. Considering the fact that Bond is 40 years old this year and has 20 movies under his piton shooting belt, it's amazing that he can entertain at all, but here he is, still going strong and bringing them into the theaters in droves, going so far as to knock off kiddie favorite Harry Potter from the top spot at the box office (thus ensuring a Bond 21). I still think the best Brosnan era Bond movies are Goldeneye and The World Is Not Enough, because they are closer to the Bond novels I have loved dearly. I've read nearly all the Flemming era novels, and most of the novels that continued "canon" Bond in the years since Flemming's death from Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, and Raymond Benson.
This film had a lot going for it at the beginning. First off, Bond is NOT indestructible, and any one who ever read the beating he took in the very first Bond novel, Casino Royale, knows just what kind of torture Bond has had to endure over the years in many of the Bond novels. People complain about this opening sequence in DAD, because they're used to Bond getting away without a scratch. I must point out that that is 'movie' Bond, not "novel' Bond. I find it a tremendous pleasure to see Bond get caught and disavowed for a time, because it's more realistic that way. He's tortured and held for 14 months, no martini's and quick getaways here. A nice break from the routine.
Pierce Brosnan, who's close to 50 years old, looks better than most men half his age, but his age is showing a bit. He's not the youthful man we met in Goldeneye, but it works well on him. Brosnan says he's going to do one more, and I think he should retire after that, giving him a very succesful run at Bond and going out while on top.
Then my choice for Bond would be Colin Farrell.
As others have outlined, the opening of the film is ultra exciting as Bond (and two agents who kind of disappeared from our radar as their helicopter is destroyed) infiltrates North Korea to get at the good Colonel Moon. The mission goes sour when Bond is revealed to be a spy by an unknown traitor, and although he assasinates the Colonel anyway, ends up with Bond being captured and disavowed by his own government, left to be tortured by the Koreans for 14 months in prison. I think I said that already
Quick note: The hovercraft chase at the beginning, with roaring hovercraft fans and engines, gunfire, exploding mines, AND Bond music, is the LOUDEST thing I have ever heard in a movie.
The theme song by Madonna was HORRIBLE. Completely and totally without merit. This is even worse than that Duran Duran song they did for Roger Moore's last outing as Bond, A View To A Kill. This is the first time a Bond film ever shows anything that advances the plot during the opening credits, and it's a freaky thing to see those computerized scorpions become real ones and sting our man, Bond. I was impressed, but actually wished I was deaf as Madonna's 'song' was played over it. Not since Tina Turner sang Goldeneye have we had a good Bond song IMHO.
After Bond is traded in a prisoner trade, M and MI-6 thinks Bond broke under torture, and keep him locked up in a kind of medical prison suite, and Judi Dench comes off like a real bitch here, as is intended. As head of MI-6 you can't be all soft hearted, and once again she adds a real touch of class to the Bond movie genre. Again, this is more like the true, novel-era Bond, then the movies, and I'm happy to see it.
Once Bond escapes from his medical prison (which is on a frigate of some kind), in a ridiculously easy fashion, and rather unexplainable stopping of his heart, the next hour of the film is mostly slow moving, except for Bond's encounter with Zao in Cuba, again reminding me far more of the Bond novels than the movies, as he chases his quarry around, using real (well, pseudo) detective work to find Zao, and the incident with Chinese intelligence in his hotel room reminds me of the novels and a different, more down to earth Bond film, harkening back to Sean Connery being taped making love in From Russia With Love. As he closes in on Zao he meets Jinx, played by Halle Berry.
Sidenote: Berry is the world's hottest female. She is a vision of pure beauty and replaces Catherine Zeta Jones on my list as the world's hottest woman.
It seems Zao is undergoing an illegal therapy that "wipes his bone marrow DNA clean" or something and uses stolen DNA from runaways and orphans to give you a completely new face and body type. It at first seems kind of fantastical but really, how far off is something like this? Impossible now, maybe, but a nice comment on where gene research may lead us, I think. The only thing I did't like was the silly mask Zao had to wear to try and get this new look. Very low tech looking plastic mask and kind of cheesy looking. It turns out Jinx is out to destroy the illegal medical clinic and sneaks in as Bond goes in search of Zao. They kind of work at cross purposes and her destroying the clinic foils Bond's assassination attempt, but he gets a clue from Zao that leads him to Gustav Graves, a millionare philanthropist. But of course. The fight between Zao and Bond through the mess that Jix creates speeds up things a bit for the action fans, and manages to advance the plot at the same time.
My one thing is, so what if Zao gets a new face? He'll still have those diamonds pock marking his face won't he?
Now that he has some evidence against Graves, who really comes off as something of a spoiled brat through the first half of the film until his true identity is confirmed, M decides that Bond has become "useful again" and secretely brings him back to the fold of MI-6.
My favorite part of this film is the sword dual between Bond and Graves. It really reminds me of something out of the Bond novels, plus it's high adventure, and very swashbuckling. The dual itself is really well played out and probably the most tense action scene in the film. I wish they had realized that as they ventured into the last half of the movie when things get bigger and weirder and just plani boring because of the size.
It's in the sword dual that we finally see that Graves is a worthy adversary for Bond both phsyically and mentally, we are also introduced to Miranda Frost and Madonna's cameo. I wish Bond had run Madonna through with his blade, but that's just me.
John Cleese takes over admirable for the departed Desmond Llewelyn as Q, I can't imagine anyone doing it better, but I am upset that they didn't mention what happened to Q. I thought it would have been nice to hear that Q passed away at home in his reitrment in the 14 months Bond was away, and have a nice little scene where Bond visits his grave and leaves something there. Sadly, no such luck.
The car, the Aston Martin "Vanquish" or as they call it in the movie, "Vanish" is actually not as crazy as I thought it would be, and the final "car battle" in the ice palace of Gustav Graves between Bond and Zao's own souped up car is more fun than I thought it would be, reminding me of two knight's jousting. It was a nice way to sum up the past car chases of Bond's cinematic history, pitting him against a villain in an equally souped up car. Usually Bond's car is the best in the biz and makes waste of everything else on the road, not so in this film. It's not a Romulan cloaking device, but actually explained by tiny cameras on either side projecting an image. It's not bending light or anything. To me it wasn't as unbelievable as some people thought it was.
There's also some nice tributes to past Bond's in Q's scene, including the sight of Rosa Kleb's shoe, and Brosnan activating Connery's jet pack from thunderball asking "does this thing still work"? When Q hands Bond his new watch, he asks that Bond actually return this one.
"How many does this make for you, Bond" He asks.
"Oh, about 20." A nice tribute to how many films there have been.
The last hour of the film involves revealing Gustave's secret plan, using the Icarus ray, which is also actually based on real technology. The Russian's tried something similar, though without the "death ray" effect in years past. But the reflecting sunlight idea has really been attempted (and succeeded for a few hours). Graves turns out to be someone else, and he wears a Power Rangers type outfit until the end battle on a plane with Bond, and it gets kind of silly then, but always exciting if you just suspend disbelief for twenty minutes or so. It's in the final scenes that this Bond completely fails. Note to Bond producers: enough with the killer satellittes. It's been done too many times before. The final battle aboard the plane and the escape in the helicopter is rather ridiculous, marring what started out to be a fantastic Bond beginning, equal to the best of the Bond films in the past.
I can actually tell you when this movie went from great to ridiculous. The very moment is when Graves chases Bond as he escapes the ice palace, using his "sun death ray". When Bond escapes by parasailing on what has to be the wrost CGI effects in the history of cinema, that's when it goes down the toilet. Up till then, it is a great Bond film.
At the very end of the credits, we see the words we all love:
James Bond Will Return
And I'll be waiting until he does, because no one, not XXX, or the Extreme Ops kiddies, stand a ghost of a chance against Bond, James Bond.
All in all it's a great movie going experience, with steps taken to remind us that the movie makers remember what made Bond in the first place, the novels. I highly recommend it if you at all like this kind of genre. It's great fun and certainly has something for everyone.
Now that the first 20 are over, and they celebrated Bond's 20th cinema outing and 40th anniversary in big style, it's time to go back and re-invent Bond by re-discovering his roots. Scale the plots DOWN. Scale the villains DOWN. Be a hardboiled spy again, ruthless and cold. Use intrigue and suspense as well as action to take us back to the glory days of Bond. That's what I'd do.