The 007 franchise has seen the release of 25 canonical films over the course of over six decades. They’ve left a lasting legacy on the world of action cinema, and have produced both hits and misses (but mostly hits). But there’s one movie that sticks out more than the others: 2002’s Die Another Day, starring Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, the world’s greatest superspy. This movie killed Brosnan’s run as the character, and brought an end to an entire era, prompting a much-needed reimagining for its next sequel.
This movie is often regarded as one of, if not the worst in the entire franchise, and for good reason. Or rather, for good reasons. As in multiple reasons. There’s so much that this film does wrong, to the point that it’s become a laughing stock of the 007 fanbase. It feels like a campy parody of the entire franchise, taking every bad aspect of previous movies and combining them into one Frankenstein’s monster of awful. If you’re wondering what are the exact ingredients in this concoction of cinematic garbage, look no further, because these are the reasons why Die Another Day is the absolute worst 007 movie.
Die Another Day
Release Date
November 22, 2002
Runtime
133 minutes
Director
Lee Tamahori
Writers
Ian Fleming, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade
10
That God-Awful Intro Song
Bright orange in thermal vision, a man hunches over on his hands and knees as someone crouches beside him, placing their hands on his back as text on screen reads “”Die Another Day” Performed By MADONNA” in the opening title sequence of ‘Die Another Day’ (2002).Image via MGM
When it comes to James Bond intro sequences, they almost always follow a particular format. Usually, the opening credits follow the first action sequence, and display a series of animated, psychedelic visuals that vaguely represent the vibe and scenes of the film to come. This is generally set to a unique, smooth, snazzy jazz tune by one of the era’s most popular artists, which is created specifically for the movie. This iconic trope has been a staple of the franchise for decades, now.
Die Another Day instead features an upbeat, 90s pop tune sung by Madonna. Look, Madonna is a perfectly fine artist and is super influential, but this song was incredibly annoying. It was way too fast and high-pitched, and doesn’t at all evoke the feel of Bond’s suave. Among the other Bond songs, this one sticks out like a sore thumb for being irritating, out of place, and truly terrible.
9
Overreliance on Terrible CGI
James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) para-surfs an explosive wave in ‘Die Another Day’ (2002).Image via MGM Distribution Co.
Viewers understand that this was one of the first Bond movies to come out in the new millennium, and that CGI was becoming extremely popular in the world of film. However, this movie relies on it so much that it begins to feel cheap, low-effort, and lazy. An abundance of CGI is pretty common in the world of cinema nowadays, which makes sense considering the scale of some film. On top of that, they were pretty common for the time, too.
The problem is, the CGI in Die Another Day is truly awful. It looks like something rendered on an Xbox. As in the original Xbox. It’s thoroughly unconvincing. But it’s honestly kind of impressive how bad it is, especially considering movies with good or decent CGI like Star Wars: Episode II–Attack of the Clones came out the same year. It just feels dated, like it walked straight out of the 90s, without much effort dumped into making the CGI look visually impressive.
8
The Villain Concepts Make No Sense
A man in a tuxedo and a black fur coat stands on a podium giving a speech.Image via MGM Distribution Co.
The villain concepts for this movie actually started out really promising. The pre-credits action sequence featured an unhinged North Korean military official named Tan Sun-Moon, who was played by Will Yun Lee. This seemed to be an excellent use of Lee’s potential as an actor, setting him up to become a great Bond villain. Accompanying him was Zao (Rick Yune), a terrorist agent with a really cool look about him. Things seem good at first.
Later, Zao’s concept is completely butchered. He later appears with a face covered in diamonds. Is that supposed to look intimidating? Because it just looks ridiculous, overly flashy, and wildly impractical. But that’s not all–Will Yun Lee doesn’t even reappear. Instead, his character is given a plotline about receiving plastic surgery… for some reason. Yet, there was no reason for the movie to shoehorn this plotline in. Tan Sun-Moon becomes Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), which is downright insulting to Will Yun Lee, but also to the audience. They should have kept the colonel as he was and utilized Will Yun Lee, leaving the atrocious plastic surgery thing out of it.
7
There’s No Chemistry Between Bond and Jinx
Jinx Johnson (Halle Berry) wields dual swords in Die Another DayImage via MGM
When it comes to introducing a new Bond girl, chemistry is key. Meaning, there has to be a genuine connection between Bond’s new love interest, and Bond himself. Most of the time, this is achieved flawlessly, making for a convincing and compelling romance, even if it’s only for a short term. Most of the time, anyway. This time, the Bond girl was an American NSA operator named Jinx, who is played by Halle Berry.
Halle Berry isn’t a bad actress, but this role was just not for her. As you may have guessed, there is no genuine connection between her and Pierce Brosnan, leaving their on-screen romance feeling shallow, unfulfilling, and boring. Worse still, Jinx herself just isn’t that interesting of a character. Sure, she’s less damsel-in-distress and more proactive and powerful, which is something that many Bond girls have been before, but it really falls flat in all aspects here. Jinx, as a character, just has zero personality, and this is felt in her romance with Bond.
6
The Abrupt Tonal Shift
The movie starts out on a high note, featuring a high-stakes mission to infiltrate a North Korean military facility. Bond isn’t even alone here, and is accompanied by other MI6 agents. Sure, they arrive on surfboards, which is a bit weird, but hey, it works for the most part. The movie casts this grey pallet over things, appearing to usher in a new era for the franchise, marked with grit, political tension, and more maturity.
Bond even gets captured and tortured by the North Koreans, with MI6 considering him a burned asset, cutting off their connection to him. This really works well, as it feels experimental, fresh, and new. Then the movie completely throws it all away as soon as the characters get to that stupid ice palace. From then on, it’s much of the standard 007 fare that felt dated, and that audiences were growing tired of. This tone shift is fast enough to give anyone whiplash, and leaves the audience incredibly confused as to the direction and overall vibe of the movie.
5
John Cleese as Q Was Way Underused
Image via MGM
Q is one of the 007 franchise’s recurring characters. He’s one of Bond’s closest allies, and serves as a quartermaster of sorts. He is responsible for designing all of the gadgets and weapons that Bond will use on his upcoming mission. Q is in charge of overseeing their design and construction, as well as briefing Bond on how precisely to use the gadgets in the first place. Conveniently, all of his gadgets are used at exactly the right time, with none being left out.
Unfortunately, the actor who played Q throughout the vast majority of the franchise, Desmond Llewelyn, passed away in 1999, which meant Die Another Day needed a replacement. They ended up choosing John Cleese for this, which was actually a really amazing decision. The problem is, they completely underused him. Cleese is a comedic actor, and Q is often a comedic character, so this should have been a perfect fit. Sadly, they didn’t play to Cleese’s strengths much, and never used him in the role ever again. It’s a major disappointment.
4
The Gadgets Felt Way Too Sci-Fi
James Bond, portrayed by actor Pierce Brosnan, utilizes an invisible car in Gustav Grave’s ice palace in Die Another Day.Image via MGM
Okay, so, admittedly, James Bond gadgets and such have always felt a little in the sci-fi realm. Yeah, there’s jetpacks and watches with hidden tranquilizer darts, but at the end of the day, many of these things are still feasible, if very technically complicated. There was always a certain degree of believability to them, even if they seemed a few decades ahead of their time. Some gadgets weren’t even that far-fetched at all.
But the ones in Die Another Day feel far too “out there” for their own good. Like, there’s an invisible car, for crying out loud! Yes, Bond’s car could transform into a submarine and has a bunch of hidden weapons in it, but even that seemed more believable than a car that was completely invisible, shielding its interior from prying eyes and moving completely unseen. This doesn’t feel decades ahead of its time, it feels centuries ahead of its time. Bond gadgets were generally curated to resemble technology that already exists, so the ones in this film felt completely alien compared to the others.
3
Even the Action is Boring
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Die Another DayImage via MGM
Action movies should be fun, exciting; something to get the heart pounding and the blood pumping. But Die Another Day is not one of those movies. Action movies are actually harder to nail than you might think. You can’t just have constant gunfire and explosions, because that gets pretty old after a while. Yet, Die Another Day didn’t really get the memo, because it falls into this category of action movies with too much action.
This is the kind of thing that makes Michael Bay movies bad: they focus primarily on explosions, action, and flashiness, and not much else. They don’t leave much room for nuance or breathers in between, and certainly aren’t very emotional. Die Another Day is much the same in this regard. It’s just too full of action, to the point that the action feels overused, eventually becoming tired and dull. When even the action is boring, you know you’ve done something wrong.
2
It Didn’t Measure Up to Cinema Trends at the Time
Halle Berry as Jinx looking at Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Die Another DayImage via MGM
Die Another Day came out in 2002. This was the same year that The Bourne Identity came out. The Bourne Identity was a really mature spy movie, full of complex political plotlines, more violent and brutal action, less campiness, and a more grounded approach to the genre. It was exactly what spy-action cinema needed, ushering in a new dawn for the movies, attracting new audiences, who didn’t like ridiculousness in their action.
Also consider that the Mission: Impossible movies were two entries deep at this point. Sure, the second film, which came out two years prior, was ridiculous, but that’s the reason why it’s generally considered the worst of the franchise. Fans much prefer the more grounded, mature Mission: Impossible movies to the over-the-top ones. Unfortunately, Die Another Day failed to capitalize on the success of grittier, darker spy films and didn’t give the people what they wanted, making it feel old and stuck in its ways.
1
It’s Too Over-the-Top… Even For the Franchise
Pierce Brosnan, as James Bond, rides a snowmobile in Die Another Day.Image via MGM
By far the biggest criticism about this movie is that it is way, way too over-the-top, even for the franchise. The movies are no stranger to being over-the-top, featuring outrageous, yet exciting stunts. Yet this film wasn’t filled with excitement, but a suspense of reality. Physics just do not apply in this movie, with setpieces and escapes that warranted eye-rolls from even some of the most dedicated fans.
What’s extremely telling is that even Sir Roger Moore, who previously played James Bond, felt that the movie was too over-the-top, and he literally starred in a movie where Bond went to space and fought with laser guns. He starred in a different movie where Bond escapes a nest of alligators by running on the tops of their heads, making it out completely unscathed. When even Sir Roger Moore says the movie is ridiculous, it’s safe to assume he’s right.
