Die Another Day (2002)

Die Another Day, Bond #20, is Pierce Brosnan's final appearance in the role and the only one of his four Bond films I had not previously seen. In the pre credit sequence Bond is captured while on assignment in North Korea, interspersed in the opening title sequence he is tortured there, and shortly after that he is released. This is all said to occurred over a 14 month period, but after his release Bond is almost instantly on his A game, and other then one brief sequence, (where James is ending a year plus of forced celibacy and accordingly enjoying it much more then usual) his time in the North Korean prison camp seems to have had no effect on him. Brosnan is completely unconvincing playing a man just out of a long, tortious prison experience, however I suspect the next Bond Daniel Craig could have played that arc convincingly. This film features an invisible car, a space based heat ray, and a "DNA therapy" that can change a persons race, so basically this movie out Roger Moore's Roger Moore. The films two Bond girls are (now) either Oscar nominated (Rosamund Pike) or Oscar winners (Halle Berry). Madonna performs the title song and has an uncredited cameo. Exotic locations include North Korea, Hong Kong, Cuba, and Iceland. **1/2