Die Another Day

In Pierce Brosnan’s final outing as 007, he faces off against the dangerous, betrayal-driven assassin Zao and the cunning diamond merchant Gustav Graves, all while dodging a massive, destructive satellite laser.

Revisiting Die Another Day over twenty years after its theatrical release felt like opening a high-tech time capsule from the early 2000s. The film served as a flashy farewell that balanced over-the-top villainy with significant franchise milestones, most notably the introduction of Halle Berry’s Jinx. As the first Black Bond girl, she was a true game-changer; portrayed not as a damsel in distress, but as a female mirror image of Bond himself, which remained a refreshing highlight of the film.

The movie also served as a love letter to Bond history, featuring clever homages to classic gadgets and marking the end of the BMW era. Seeing Bond return to the Aston Martin, a legacy car that first appeared in 1964’s Goldfinger, felt like a homecoming for the character. Interestingly, the high-octane car sequences here seemed to have left a lasting mark on cinema, arguably influencing the style of later films like The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. However, the film isn't without its flaws; rewatching it today revealed that the CGI in the larger action sequences looked incredibly fake by modern standards, which could be a bit distracting.

Reflecting on Brosnan’s quartet of films, a clear pattern emerged where each installment seemed to follow a repetitive ending formula. Now that I’ve seen his entire run, I can definitively say that while Brosnan was undeniably the most attractive Bond, he occupied a different space than his successor. Die Another Day was an enjoyable, nostalgic ride, but it highlights why the franchise eventually shifted gears. While Brosnan had the charm and grace, Daniel Craig brought the physicality and grounded strength that ultimately, for me, felt more believable for the role.