Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Rick Yune, Rosamund Pike, Toby Stephens
Directed by: Lee Tamahori

After the embarrassment that was The World is Not Enough, James Bond is back in one of the top five Bond movies ever. What a way to ring in the franchise's 40^th anniversary. Twenty movies and still going strong!

Here's a partial plot summary. Bond is taken prisonner in North Korea after a botched assassination attempt. He is tortured for 14 months (while Madonna's theme song plays). He finally gets released by being traded for a North Korean terrorist named Zao. M (Judi Dench) fires Bond from double-O duty because he's no longer useful, so Bond takes it upon himself to get the newly released terrorist, Zao. Action ensues. Globetrotting ensues. Bond mackin' on the ladies ensues. All is well.

We get Halle Berry's Jinx, an NSA agent with whom Bond teams up (in more than one way) to stop a doomsday device. The first time we see her, Jinx emerges from the beach in a bathing suit exactly as the first Bond girl (Ursula Andress) did in 1962's Dr. No. That's not where the Bond in-jokes stop. There are a few instances where they refer to past Bond films, which I believe is something new to the series. We see the old rocket pack from 1965's Thunderball, a slow-moving laser like in 1964's Goldfinger, as well as the new Q (John Cleese) mentioning that the watch he just gave Bond is his 20^th. Also, there's a Monty Python joke in there, spoken by Bond to Flying Circus co-founder Cleese. Pretty funny references for those who get it.

Let's get down to the action. Bond has a wicked amazing car that can turn invisible. It is involved in an amazing chase on plains of ice in Iceland. Really cool stuff. There's also a nice hovercraft chase sequence. But the fencing battle between Bond and diamond magnate Gustav Graves (Stephens) is edge-of-your-seat stuff. Fast, nicely choreographed and exciting. And near the end, there's also an...interesting knife fight featuring two stripped down ladies that I know MastaCSG appreciated.

What about the other Bond formula elements? Well, you got great banter between Bond and the ladies, as well as villains calling Bond "Mr. Bond". I always liked polite bad guys. You have not one but two women whom Bond seduces (Jinx and Miranda Frost, played by newcomer Rosamund Pike). You have an evil henchman with a cool peculiarity (Zao has diamonds embedded into his face). You have a doomsday device that's so ridiculous, it's great! Of course, there are also gadgets. It wouldn't be Bond without them. I could have done without some of the CGI scenes (surfing down a glacier) but they couldn't have been done otherwise, so I'll let it slide.

A lot of reviewers have said that Die Another Day is simply the same old, which is true to a certain extent but then, what do the reviewers want? This installment is infused with action and fun that the last one was sorely missing. If you like Bond, this is easily one of the best. The action is exciting, the story good (if a bit complicated) and the actors make it look like so much fun. Go see it now.

DroopyMcC
Queen

MastaCSG		Cat fights with Jinx and Frost in their undies: Good! Car chase on the ice: Good! Broad sword fighting at a rich socialite club: Good! Invisible car: WTF? Bond gadget's are getting dangerously close to star trek gadgets. Soon the damn car will come complete with a toilet and flux capacitor for time travel! I like it when bond uses his head every now and then to get out of problems instead of contrived sci fi gimmicks.
Jack

ASY		A great one, as far as Bond films go. Diamondface is cool just because, and I never thought cars driving on ice could be so thrilling.
Jack