Wait for Another Day

Well, I finally got around to seeing the latest installment of what M calls the "dinosaur of the Cold War". Yes, it's the next serial in Ian Fleming's mildly popular among the gadget-having/wanna-be womanizing/imaginary-gambling/fast-car-driving set. And as usual, it's loaded with cool effects, bizarre plots of world domination and Bond seducing any number of sexyhot bad women in as few minutes as possible. Well, only two this time.

I gotta say it. As much of a Bond fan that I am, I haven't really gotten the vibe for Pierce Brosnan since Goldeneye. The last few flicks have been somewhat believable (well, it *IS* Bond of all things), but Die Another Day lacks a puncher plot. At least Tim Dalton had some interesting things going on in Eastern Europe. Now the baddie is a North Korean (interestingly enough given today's headlines) and he's hell-bent on exacting punishment on the Western World for all it's done to him (like giving him lots of money, fast cars, a confidential secretary, etc).

Die Another Day is the usual Bond fare for the last few flicks - fast paced, quick cuts and jagged editing. The effects are pretty good, the acting is up to Bondian par for all parties involved (although Halle Berry is kind of wooden through the whole thing. I don't think she watched enough vintage Bond to get the feel for the witty reparte).

And imagine this, I can't actually imagine that Q came up with some of the stuff he did. Granted, it's usually quite fictional, but on some level you have to believe that this stuff can be pulled off -- but an invisible car? Leave that to Linda Carter. I mean, a bad guy having the change to launch a space shuttle to a space base I can believe, but an invisible car? Puh-leeeze.

As I was saying, I walked out of the theatre exhausted because of the fast pace. Usually Bond gets around the world to a number of places, but the writing/editing puts you there for at least an amount of time that feels like he did some groundwork before waltzing in to beat the bad guy in some lofty endeavor like baccarat or fencing on his own turf. I guess what I'm getting at is that Bond used to have a more European flavor -- suave, sophisticated and ballsy enough to pull off stunts that would get normal 00 agents waxed, but with enough restraint to (usually) pick his battles. Now he's pushed to the edge, flying by the seat of his pants and generally moving like he had a breakfast of speed and sugar washed down with a sixer of Jolt.

But, given all of that, I still love it anyway. My favorite scenes from this pic: the Hong Kong hotel (classic Bond) and the fencing scene (makes you want to dabble in swordplay).