ritish spy James Bond (Brosnan) has surfed onto the forbidden shores of North Korea, aiming to steal an attaché case full of diamonds and blow up the evil Col. Moon (Will Yun Lee) and his henchman, Zao (Rick Yune), who are stockpiling weapons to invade the south. But Bond is betrayed by an unknown Western ally and attempts to escape during a hovercraft chase through the mine-laden demilitarized zone. After Moon's craft plunges off a waterfall, Bond is captured by Gen. Moon (Kenneth Tsang), the colonel's father.
After 14 months of torture, a bearded and bedraggled Bond finds himself in front of a North Korean firing squad. But at the last minute, it turns out he's being released—traded for Zao, now scarred by diamond chips.
In recovery, Bond is told by M (Judi Dench) that he's in trouble for allowing himself to be captured and facilitating the release of the terrorist Zao. M has no choice but to hold Bond for a disciplinary investigation.
Bond manages to escape and, with the help of Chinese intelligence operatives who are also on Zao's trail, track the wily henchman to Havana. But as he's closing in on Zao to discover who betrayed him, Bond crosses paths with Jinx (Berry), with whom he has a romantic encounter.
Later, he discovers that Jinx is a lethal assassin in her own right, who is pursuing the terrorist for reasons unknown.
The discovery of more diamonds points to the flashy billionaire Gustav Graves (Stephens) and his icy assistant, Miranda Frost (Pike), who may not be what she seems. Can Bond get to Graves before Jinx? And what is the secret in Graves' ice palace on a frozen lake in Iceland?
A film franchise finds a more muscular 007
Die Another Day, the much-heralded 20th installment in the longest-running film franchise in history, marks a return to form for Bond, James Bond, after the lackluster The World Is Not Enough. Directed by the stylish New Zealand helmer Tamahori, Die is muscular, sleek and big, aided in no small part by Oscar winner Berry's spunky new character, Jinx.
That said, this is still a Bond movie, and like all others, it adheres to a form as rigid as haiku. Writers Purvis and Wade do what they can to infuse the movie with character, modest twists and surprises, but in the end, the audience knows exactly what to expect. To their credit, the filmmakers have given them just that, with little of the smarmy irony that deflated the Roger Moore Bonds or the faux sensitivity that marred Timothy Dalton's The Living Daylights.
Though the film drags through some of its two hours, the filmmakers have gone back to basics to provide the obligatory chases and technothrills. This Bond even shares some of the Cold War chill of the earliest 007 films. And Brosnan again proves he's the best 007 since Sean Connery, with the right mix of silky sophistication and brutality. Will Yun Lee, late of Witchblade, is appealingly sinister as the North Korean colonel. Stephens is colorless as Bond's archenemies. Cleese nearly steals the show as a snarky new Q.
As Die also marks the franchise's 40th anniversary, the film can be seen as a distillation of Bond themes and shtick from the past four decades: Jinx first appears in a variation of Ursula Andress' bikini from Dr. No; a character drops into Buckingham Palace on a Union Jack parachute, a la Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me; another character finds herself at the mercy of a laser, a la Goldfinger. There are also more obscure references, such as a glimpse of the book A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies by James Bond, the birding author from whom writer Ian Fleming took his character's name.
