Starring:
 Pierce Brosnan
 Halle Berry
 Rick Yune
 Toby Stephens

Directed by:
 Lee Tamahori

Overall Crave Factor

This is the best Bond film since GOLDENEYE. One of the top five all time. Brosnan is in top form as Bond. Suave and charming, dangerous and suitably violent. Brosnan makes a perfect 007, because he can balance the humor and charm with a degree of cold and calculating violence. Connery had this mastered in his performance as Ian Fleming’s superspy. Roger Moore was too much humor, not enough danger. Timothy Dalton was too much muscle, not enough champagne. One segment in D.A.D. says it all. Brosnan walks into a high-class Hong Kong hotel. He has long shaggy hair, a Grizzly Adams beard, and is wearing cheap blue cotton pajamas, soaked to the bone. He struts into the hotel as if he owns the place and immediately asks for his favorite room. When the owner spots him, he ushers him straight to the room, provides a tailor and shirt service, and sends a masseuse to ‘rub-down’ our hero. No matter that this is a trap, 007 knows it, and plays it cool, from beginning to end, revealing the Hong Kong spys and turning the situation to his favor in a matter of seconds without breaking a sweat. Very cool. This is what Bond is about. More than fancy toys and speedy women, it’s about cool.

That’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of fancy toys and several speedy women involved. Halle Berry makes the first real tough chick Bond girl since Pussy Galore. A match for 007 in all ways. Not at all helpless, or needing of Bonds assistance, Berry continuously puts out the vibe that even without the famous 007 on her team, she would still kick ass, take names, and ultimately save the day. Rosamund Pike, who plays Miranda Frost, is the other side of the coin. She is the standard Bond bad girl, who is ambiguously non-aligned until the final moments. Much like Teri Hatcher in TOMORROW NEVER DIES, or Sophie Marceau in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, this part could have been played by any number of soft faced, lithe-bodied actresses. She does admirably well with the part, and I would not be surprised to find her in a number of films after this, but the part itself is window dressing.

As for the rest of the cast, Will Yun Lee is suitably creepy as the evil Colonel Moon, a spoiled brat given way too much power. Toby Stephens does an excellent job with his part as mysterious billionaire diamond tycoon. Very smarmy and very sly, a perfect opponent for Bond. The only drawback I saw was his resemblance to Conan O’Brien, which made me want to look for a masturbating bear, triumph the insult-comic dog or Andy Richter on the sidelines. Michael Madsen shows his bad self as an arrogant NSA honcho, and Dame Judi Dench and John Cleese do their bits for Queen and Country. A little treat for those watching carefully, is the requisite henchman, in this case a huge Maori dude by the name of Mr. Kil who seems to be inspired by the classic Oddjob character played by Harold Sakata. The cool thing about Mr. Kil is that you probably don’t know it, but you’ve seen him before. Lawrence Makoare, who plays Kil, also played Lurtz, the head Uruk-Hai from FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING.

Of course, the best of the supporting cast in this one is Rick Yune, best known for THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS who plays Colonel Moons’ henchman Zao, a thoroughly evil and infinitely capable foe for Bond to have to deal with multiple times throughout the film. He also has the coolest look after an explosion leaves him with some wicked scarring punctuated by diamond chips, and a head and face devoid of hair. Very creepy.

The direction, by Lee Tamahori, is tight, concise and to the point. No wasted moments, no long dragged out sessions of pure exposition. Everything is nicely paced to keep the action flowing without sacrificing the story. Tamahori directed the incredible ONCE WERE WARRIORS and then took up with Hollywood, directing MULHOLLAND FALLS and ALONG CAME A SPIDER before landing this primo gig (He also directed one of my fave eps of THE SOPRANOS – Toodle-F*#$ing-oo). He also does a bang-up job with the little sight gags and innuendos that invoke the 007 history and provide well needed inside jokes for the fans.

Honestly there are very few drawbacks to this installment in the 007 franchise. Namely that godforsaken Madonna song that grates on and on and on like a broken record of dying cats. I know she’s supposedly still a big deal with the kids, but honestly, could they not have gotten a classier act to do the theme song? Hint for next time… Use some local boys like BLUR. The only other beef I have is with the casting of Madonna in the movie. Like it isn’t bad enough to have to put up with her nasal caterwauling in the opening credits, do we have to see her feeble attempts at acting? There are so many incredible actresses who could have killed in that cameo. They could have stuck with the ‘revisiting 007’ theme and put in a former Bond girl – Diana Rigg, Jane Seymour, hell even Tanya Roberts would have been better than Madonna!!

In summation – Movie? Top Notch. Bond? Brosnan IS James Bond. Halle Berry? Ohhh. Berry is sweeeeet. Madonna? Mads is in the bag and the bag is in the river…

Best Bond in years – Just get rid of that damn Madonna!!