One of the top two in Brosnan's stint
Agent 007 (Pierce Brosnan) is sent to North Korea to investigate a colonel illegally trading weapons for African blood diamonds. The trail eventually leads from Hong Kong to Cuba where Bond meets Jinx (Halle Berry) and infiltrates a gene therapy clinic in a veritable fortress off the coast. Next, Bond has a thrilling fencing match at a swank club in London with the main villain (Toby Stephens). The final act switches to an incredible ice palace in Iceland and back to Korea. Rick Yune is on hand as the secondary villain, Zao.
"Die Another Day" (2002) was Pierce Brosnan's fourth and final performance as James Bond and it has the most pizazz of his four movies by far. Its heightened comic book-ness gives it a bad rap, but that’s what makes it stand out from the previous two installments, which had a muted palette and were somewhat forgettable (although entertaining enough). The villains are more memorable in this one and the Bond women are certainly acceptable. The best part of the film, for me, is the over-the-top sword fight at the manor. Although it's so overdone it's somewhat goofy, it may very well be the best sword fight in the history of cinema.
The second half, which mostly takes place in Iceland, has several good action sequences as well, even goofier than the sword fight, like the iceberg tsunami on which Bond surfs (Why Sure!). But it's not like this is the first time an action scene was totally ludicrous in a Bond picture (Remember the ‘Bat Boat’ in the opening of “The World is Not Enough”?).
The first time I saw Brosnan my initial thought was, "He'd make a great Bond,” and so he does; but it's a different Bond than Connery or Moore and it takes time to get used to him.
Madonna sings the title song (and has a cameo).
The film runs 2 hours, 13 minutes, and was shot in Maui, Hawaii (opening surfing scene); England (including as a stand-in for Korea); Andalucía, Spain (Cuba); Austurland, Iceland, and Norway (ice car chase and ice palace environs).
GRADE: B+/A-