Die Another Day is an unfortunate film to see after Casino Royale. It combines the camp, gadgets, and general ridiculousness of past Bond movies with some darker elements. It's got facial mutations, a solar-powered death-ray, and a dude with diamond shrapnel in his face but it also has Bond getting captured and being tortured for fourteen months!
The problem (for me) is that Casino Royale took Bond to a much darker place while jettisoning the camp and unnecessary gadgets, creating the first adult Bond film. Die Another Day can't help but seem pale by comparison. I can appreciate how the steps taken in this movie paved they way for what would come next but, in a way, that only compounds the problem. Having Bond get tortured for over a year is certainly dark but when he bounces back with nary a psychological trauma, the whole thing seems like a missed opportunity (much like Michael Madsen's presence in the film).
That being said, there's stuff to recommend. The Bond girls are top notch. Halle Berry is super-hot and turns in a solid performance (she is the first Oscar winner to play a Bond girl, after all) and I loved Rosamund Pike as Miranda Frost, the cold-as-ice-double-super-secret agent. She's got a real classy look to her and I get the feeling that she's a real bitch off-screen which is either great acting or perfect casting, either way, good on them.
This is an homage to Ursula . . . I'm sorry, I lost my train of thought.
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