Time for a change

Rating: 6/10 (11 September 2007)

The 20th Bond installation of Die Another Day was more of a celebration that the franchise had lasted 40 years than it was a look to the future of the Bond franchise. In other words, there was never really much of a continuation point from Die Another Day planned by the franchise and which viewers would have liked seeing. By that time, it seemed, we were getting sick of some things about James Bond: How he never bleeds and always gets the right cards and the right gadgets at the right time.
This new installment of the Bond franchise is a film with trade-offs. The biggest, of course, is that it is refreshing to see Bond bleed, Bond lose a hand of cards, Bond be wrong, and Bond actually fall in love. At the same time, some of the familiar elements of Bond are missing and there's something that's lost when that happens. There's no Moneypenny, no villainous girl, and especially Q. Bonds toys don't really look like Q's gadgets, they just look like those high-end gizmos you find in your skymall catalogue. I'm not sure which version of Bond I like better, but maybe it was the right time for a change. It also helps that James Bond is played by an Oscar-caliber actor (he hasn't won an Oscar yet, but he could easily win one in between James Bond films, he got buzz for Munich and Infamous and was also in Road to Perdition) who could go way above and beyond Bond if need be. Pierce Brosnam never seemed to be more than an action hero, and his best roles outside of Bond, After the Sunset and Matador, are notable only because they parody his action hero type.