Die Another Day falls apart in the last act.

Die Another Day is the final Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan, and marks the 40^th anniversary and 20^th film of the series. After the disappointment that was the World is Not Enough, fan expectations were high. News of Hallie Berry, an Oscar winner, coming on board helped drive excitement. Die Another Day was to pay tribute to the entire series. Aspects of Connery, Moore, Lazenby and Dalton would all get their moment to shine, while coming together as a proper sign off from Brosnan himself.

The box office finished at $435 million worldwide, the highest in the series at that time. The film was a hit, but audience and critical reactions were mixed. The combination of so many Bond styles created a disjointed film. Paying tribute to the past ultimately worked against the new film, which starts strong and ends weak, just like the Brosnan run as Bond. I suppose that’s fitting, but sad for a man who always nails it as Bond.

007 surfs into the cold opening. It’s a fun little scene, which foreshadows a terrible one in the finale. The North Korean cold opening is the best of Brosnan’s four film. Everything works. It’s pure spy action, with Bond replacing a South African diamond dealer working a weapon exchange. He’s betrayed by an unknown source, and a beautifully choreographed chase scene ensues.

The demilitarized zone has been land minded, and crossing it is the only chance of escape Bond has. The villains use hovercrafts, a clever conceit, which leads to a chase is just as exciting as the motorcycle chase from Tomorrow Never Dies or tank chase from Goldeneye. The environmental hazard creates very clear stakes for Bond, which instantly ramps up the tension.  Brilliantly, he turns the danger to his advantage by shooting the land mines. They fire into the sky and explode over his pursuers in a wonderful use of the environment and demonstration of his skills as a spy.

The cold opening ends with Bond defeating the villain, but unable to escape. He’s captured by the North Korean army, and we launch into to a unique theme song montage. Fire and Ice women dance around Bond being tortured. Using scenes that directly add to the narrative, rather than entirely abstract imagery makes for a wonderful addition to the narrative. The audience experiences his torture with the escapist elements providing the comforting tropes of a Bond film to soften the experience.

Sadly the lyrics in Madonna’s Die Another Day don’t match the seriousness or tone of the visual. “Analyze this, analyze this, analyze this” repeats in a techno-pop burst. The background beat is catchy, but the whole production lacks the epic scope a Bond theme needs. It is a huge step up from Sheryl Crow and Garbage in the last two films, but that’s not saying much. Tina Turner’s Goldeneye is by far the best theme song of the Brosnan era. Madonna’s theme is serviceable.

After the montage is a fantastic little scene where Bond is traded to the British for Zao (who, in a great visual, has diamonds embedded in his face from an explosion during the cold open). Judi Dench’s M greets him by bitterly saying the cost of his return was too high. I’ve read people online complaining about that line, saying M should be grateful for Bond saving her life. That misses the point of her character. M isn’t upset at having Bond back, but no single person is worth releasing a known terrorist. She knows Bond understands this. It’s perfectly within character for both of them.

Another amazing character piece, is Bond’s trip to Hong Kong. Soaking wet and in his pajamas, Bond walks into a fancy hotel and demands his usual room with the same swagger he would when dressed in a suit. The bemused desk clerk asks for a credit card, but the manager steps in and gets Bond the usual room and champagne without concern for payment.

The scene gets even better when he disarms his masseuse of her hidden gun, and he shatters the mirror hiding the “manager” and his recording equipment. Bond says he always knew they were Chinese agents and he’s there to offer them help by going after Zao. More than chases, shooting and fighting, this scene shows Bond as a master spy. Connections, knowledge and experience give him the upper hand in any situation.

A trip to Cuba introduces Hallie Berry’s Jinx. Intended to be a spin-off character, Jinx doesn’t quite work. She’s an American version of Bond, but Berry lacks charisma. She’s fine in the part, but never raises above fine. Michelle Yeoh’s stunts blow away anything Berry gets, and Izabella Scorupco had far better chemistry with Brosnan. Jinx just doesn’t measure up. I will say Hallie Berry does nail one scene, and its right after her recreation of Ursella Andress emerging from the water in Dr. No.

“I’m just here for the birds, ornithologist,” Bond tells Jinx at the ocean side bar. “Ornithologist huh. Wow, there’s a mouthful.” The back and forth between them is loaded with double entendres, without becoming a farce. Brosnan and Berry play it straight, allowing their characters to connect in a genuine way. “What do predators do when the sun goes down?” “They feast, like there’s no tomorrow.”

The villains are great. Zao has a personal connection to Bond, like in Goldeneye, creating a believable motivation for Bond to pursue him so relentlessly. He wants revenge on the one who got away. The diamonds buried in Zao’s face make no sense, they’d be easily removed, but it’s a fun visual element on such a physical character.

Colonel Moon bursts into the film. The moment he opens his well-used punching bag and a man drops out, I knew this would be a fun villain. “Get me a new anger therapist” solidifies my opinion. His switch to Gustav Graves is a bit silly, but Toby Stephens clearly relishes playing the villain. His sword fight with Bond is especially thrilling, and sets him out as a credit physical opponent to Bond.

Miranda Frost, Rosamund Pike’s big screen debut role, doesn’t get much to do. Frost’s a fitting name as the character is nothing more than the standard ice queen trope. Anybody surprised by her being one of the bad guys hasn’t watched a Bond film before. There’s no subtlety there, but I don’t fault Pike. She does well with the little she’s given to work with.

Zao and Moon are awesome, but they can’t save the finale. Once the invisible car is introduced the film slides downhill and off a cliff. Diving into the campiness of Roger Moore’s Moonraker, the final act clashes with the first two. In honoring the sillier films of the series, they destroy one it’s most serious. Up until this point, Die Another Day might have been my favorite Brosnan film.

The worst scene of the finale is the infamous surfing “stunt.” Bond escapes a giant space laser beam by para-surfing on a massive tidal wave. It’s over the top cartoon Bond, worse than anything from the World is Not Enough. Making it worse is laughable CGI. Even for the early 2000s, the effects work is bad. Brosnan is obviously green screened for the scene. Gidget looked more realistic, and that was the 60s. Add in how ridiculous the situation is, and you have a disastrous action scene.

The other action scenes in the finale fare no better. A car chase through the ice hotel is a cool idea (pun intended), but lacks tension. The film has become a cartoon by this point. Cartoon action can still be fun to watch, but the camera work isn’t kinetic enough to make the chase work at a higher level. It’s just okay, and that’s not good enough for Bond. At one point he needs to rescue a drowning Jinx, and he saves her by crashing his vehicle through an ice wall. It’s a cool setup, but Jinx isn’t interesting enough to care whether she lives or dies. Add in the workman like camera work and editing of the finale, and you have boring action scenes.

The ending itself is just as bad, failing to capitalize on its characters. Frost sneaks up behind Jinx while she’s piloting an airplane. and places her sword against Jinx’s neck. Miranda Frost is cold, will do anything to win. To stay in character Frost should kill Jinx without hesitation, but the film wants Jinx alive. She’s being setup for a spin off series, so Frost leads her away from the pilot’s chair at sword point. Jinx uses an opening to attack Frost and kill her. 

This betrays Frost’s character, and for no reason. There’s a million fixes for this scene that don’t destroy an interesting character. An explosion or jolt to the plane could have thrown Frost off target just long enough for Jinx to defend herself. Jinx could have heard or seen Frost’s approach, showing her spy skills. Bond appears and saves Jinx at the last moment. There’s so many options, but instead they use the ‘villain over confidently leads the hero away when they should kill them’ trope. The first two thirds of the movie wouldn’t have used this tired story thread.

Die Another Day fumbles after an amazing setup. Brosnan considers this his worst Bond film. I don’t agree. There’s so much to love here, unlike the terrible World is Not Enough. However, his major complaints about ridiculous gadgets (invisible car) and bad effects (surfing) are legitimate complaints. Everything he dislikes comes from the ending. It’s all about the ending. Such a shame. This was almost the best film in his run. If you enjoyed Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies, and want more Brosnan give this one a try…but if you’re satisfied after those two, stop.