Director: Lee Tamahori
Year of Release: 2002
Should you watch it? Can’t in good faith sincerely recommend it.
Why?
The final Pierce Brosnan Bond film is a tale of two films. On one hand, the first half of the film is extremely tight. Bond is excommunicated for being blamed for secrets being leaked at the same time he is locked in a North Korean prison. Bond being heartbroken for being accused of betrayal and being off on his own is a great hook. Things got better when it seemed like the villain was gonna be this young Richard Branson douchebag that effectively demonized billionaire assholes being annoying – a type of asshole that seems even more common now than it was when this film came out. Then the film got cold feet, and brought Bond back into the MI:6 fold and revealed the secret villain was actually just North Koreans all along. Very weak sauce. This film also tried to do some CGI/VFX work that they were not ready for, and the tacky-looking special effects really clash with the general darker tone of the film. It was pretty compelling though to see the film start off in a more serious and grim direction only to try to come closer to Roger Moore Bonds for the final hour.
How is the Bond?
Pierce Brosnan got very comfortable as James Bond. This was a version of the character that felt written less for him and more for a future Bond though. He needs to be a bit more cold and ruthless here than is ideal for Brosnan. Brosnan does get his heart broken here though which is a good note for him to play. Instead of getting his heart broken by a woman though, the first half of the film sees him sad because M and MI:6 lost their faith in him. Brosnan was not an overall bad choice for Bond, but the writing rarely matched his potential.
How is the Bond Woman?
Halle Berry is one of the biggest names they have ever gotten to play the Bond Woman, but boy did they give her nothing to do and she brought nothing to it. Berry is able to convincingly do the physical stuff of action movies, but she never crafted a persona to go along with it. As such, she has never really quite worked in a prominent role in action moves. They did not solve the problem here.
How is the Bond Villain?
Okay, so the villain is a young North Korean military hardliner who has some sort of Face/Off surgery that turns him into a young Richard Branson-like billionaire asshole. Somehow, this is his plan for reuniting the Korean peninsula. This is very stupid but almost in a charming way.
Does the film irresponsibly present the West as the hero of the world and thus promote imperialism and colonialism as inherently positive?
Yes.
The Reel World 