:: Captain's Personal Blog ::

Stardate: Tuesday, December 10, 2002

Incredulously Surviving Another Day

Well, last night I shelled out over $30 on the entire experience of going to see the new James Bond film, DIE ANOTHER DAY. What did I think?

For one thing, this new entry to the series only reinforces what I have believed since Pierce Brosnan took over the series. James Bond is no longer a human being. He can't be. He's too good at everything, and he's pretty much indestructable.

Before reading onward, dear friends, let me say that there are indeed SPOILERS ahead, so if you plan on seeing the film stop right now and come back after you've see. Otherwise, let's press onward.

To the top of the film. It was nice to see that someone actually figured out who Bond was BEFORE he could foil the plan. Unfortunately for our poor villains, this didn't stop him. Now I think that the idea of having Bond captured and tortured for 14 months was inspired. It is something that hasn't been done before in a Bond film and really speaks to his fallability. Unfortunately, this is as far as we get. After spending the opening credits sequence (a horribly mismatched torture scene and Madonna dance number) which is 14 months worth, getting tortured, Bond is traded back to his own people. He is held prisoner by his own people, suspected of betraying secrets. He must get out. So what does he do? HE STOPS HIS BLOODY HEART (or it least slows it down enough so that the EKG thinks he's going into cardiac arrest.) After that, he swims to freedom and puts himself up in a hotel and then starts his movie-long journey. Kinda resilient for a guy who spent OVER A YEAR being tortured.

Now I skipped over the the opening introduction to Bond (you know, that one death-defying feat that introduces him to the film?) He surfs his way through a Tsunami (or at least, that's how it looks.) So we now know (from Brosnan's films) that Bond can Bungee jump GREAT distances, he can surf better than most, he is great with a power boat, a fighter plane, a motorcycle, skis, tanks and parachuting, to say the least. Now I know he's a Secret Agent and all, and that he must go through intensive training, but this is a bit much, no? I mean what sort of agency is going to tell their spies that they have to be proficient surfers?

Yes, I know James Bond is supposed to be the best around, but can we stay within the confines of believability? I really can't picture Sean Connery surfing his way through glaciers (ala Brosnen in a poor executed CGI effect from this latest installment.)

What's next? How about Brosnen's invulnerability. OK, so James has been getting harder to hurt over time (is he storing solar energy like Superman?) But in this last one, he gets into a fight with the villain of the day. It starts as a fencing match, turns to a sword fight, morphs into katanas, and ends with broad swords. As that this is dirty fighting, the villain pummels our hero with the hilt of his broadsword. I would say I counted at least 3 good shots to Bond, square in the head. To which, the fight continued. Now, unless I am mistaken, those broad swords were VERY heavy. Between that and the solid metal construction, you would think that one good blow could incapacitate an opponent (especially one who doesn't wear any sort of protective headgear.

As to the rest of the film, if I didn't mention it here, it was OK. We could have done without Madonna's cameo in the film, but I suppose that it couldn't be helped (or could it.)

DIE ANOTHER DAY was chock full of in-jokes that would appeal to the hard core Bond fans. Among notable cameos were.....nah, if you didn't see it, I'll leave it to you to figure out.

I liked the film as a whole. But only as much as I liked any of the other more recent films. In the old days, when Connery was Bond, it seemed that 007 was playing chess with his opponent. He wasn't a superman per se. He did do things that most people couldn't, but it was still within the relative realm of possibility. In THUNDERBALL he used a Bell jetpack. At the time, while they weren't in wide use, they were experimental and could be used for short distances, which is exactly how Bond used it! He didn't use it to fly cross country, and he didn't fly to the moon. As we travlled forward in time with Bond, especially after Roger Moore took over, Bond became less and less realistic and more and more Fantasy. MOONRAKER pretty much capped it off for Bond. I almost think (and hate to do so) that the REAL reason why Timothy Dalton was not widely accepted as Bond was because he brought a sense of realism back to the character (while still retaining the daring do.) Of course, this is more of a credit to the writers than to Dalton himself, but it is indicative of the quality of the films. I enjoyed Dalton's outings in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and LICENSE TO KILL. I was probably one of a handful. I enjoyed them for good stories, high drama and gadgets without being superman.

I guess that's what it boils down to. James Bond films have gone from being adventure thrillers to being fantasy adventures.
:: J 8:51 AM [+] ::
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