The film begins with good thunder; a surfing party of agents storm the coast of North Korea and end up blowing up everything in sight. This mission goes smoothly (by Bond standards) except for one snag -- 007 (Pierce Brosnan), accused of killing the General's son, is nabbed, interrogated and tortured by the N. Korean government. Opening credits are held in order to roll over a surreal, music video torture sequence. Backed by an edgy Madonna tune chorusing the film's title, these two or three minutes are awesome, harsh, hallucinogenic, organic. Sexy figures of fire and ice dance and spark in and out of Bond's tormented head. Kudos to all involved in this exceptional sequence.

The initial thunder is followed by a whole lot of bang and bangs, but not a great deal of logic. In fact, dare I say this film may be over-packed with action. An exciting ride at first, cadences of pure finesse are few and far between; their shortage dilutes the potency of otherwise respectable action. (Save for a later para-surfing sequence the visuals of which sink far below the impressive, logic-defying, believability of the others. A decent idea, but not realized very well on film.)

Not that we expect it from Bond, but many of us do from Berry and Brosnan, there is no depth here. Dialogue seems reserved only for quick quips, puns, and sexual double entendre. While this verbal regiment is mostly amusing, oddly, the meatiest lines are left to the insomniac villain, "One of the benefits of never sleeping, is that you have to live your dreams."

Almost doing it on action alone, this film could have easily scored an A with me in one of two ways: 1) More clever/comedic/quieter scenes (like the one in which a bearded longhaired, homeless looking Bond strolls into a high class Hong Kong hotel as if he owns the place) to balance and contrast the ballistic action and give better structure to the over all production. 2) A more potent emotional and/or meaning component.

Still, though "Die Another Day" isn't the greatest title, it is definitely not a bad film. That torture scene is truly excellent (there I go bringing it up again) and that grand sword fight is worthy of a place in the library of film's classic moments. Bronsan continues to make a great 007 and New Zealand director Lee Tamahori has updated the look and feel of the lineage; in fact (aside from 007), the retro score and musical theme may just be the most familiar elements of this Bond.

Bond Facts:
This is the 20th Bond film. The first is "Dr. No" (1962). Brosnan is the 5th 007, preceded by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton.