Film Friday/Flashback Friday: "Die Another Day," Did Have at Least One Clever Idea

I was reading an article by Kyle Turner on, "Paste," that doesn't argue so much that, "Die Another Day," was good, but had some interesting ideas. The movie came out in 2002 and I recall seeing it in theaters and another time some years later, but that was it. Hence, my memory of the flick is a bit foggy, but I can say it was not very good. Overreliance on CGI, a plot that leaned far too heavily in sci-fi for my liking, and just general messiness. However, one over-the-top element actually kind of works in retrospect. The big villain of the movie is a North Korean terrorist--Col. Sun-Tan Moon--and he's had ample gene therapy and plastic surgery to resemble a white British dude modeled after Pierce Brosnan's James Bond. 

Going by the name Gustav Graves, he's able to gain power and respect now so that he can take those he hates (but resembles) down. As Turner observes in his article, "On a literal level, it’s fascinating and unsettling, racialization inverting itself and whiteness becoming a snake eating its own tail: Graves tells Bond that he modeled his persona after him, with, 'Unjustifiable swagger,' and, 'crass quips,' a funhouse mirror of the man whose love only extends to Queen and country." The big baddie is someone who exists basically as a mockery of everything James Bond is and stands for. That's such a surreal and strange idea that it is one part of the movie which actually kind of works even if to get there you need a bunch of made-up jargon about gene replacement and altering DNA.

Gustav Graves...or is he?

Someone hates Bond and the UK so much that he basically becomes an extreme and nearly parodic version of what he despises and finds himself beloved for it. The whole thing is a bit like when Max and Leo try to make a play so bad it'll bomb in, "The Producers," but they end up with a massive hit because the result is so absurd that the concept strangely works. It's just that in, "Die Another Day," we don't get, "Springtime for Hitler," we get a North Korean terrorist who transforms himself into a WASP-y Brit.

Don't get me wrong, "Die Another Day," is still pretty low on my list of Bond movies I've seen (The Daniel Craig-led, "Casino Royale," is probably my all-time favorite), but I'll admit it does at least one thing that is interesting and clever along with all the less entertaining stuff. To be fair, Halle Berry does what she can with her role as Bond's latest fling, but if you want Berry giving her all in a genre flick, I'd recommend, "Swordfish," anytime over this movie.

Flashback Friday: "Swordfish," Was a Fun Movie, Regardless What Haters Say

You ever remember a movie not because of the plot but because of how great the actors in it were acting-out a story that admittedly was a mess? That's me with, "Swordfish." The, "Story," as it were involves an old government slush fund that a crazy guy (John Travolta) needs a skilled hacker (Hugh Jackman) to break into, yet at some point they also go and hold-up a bank, as we see when the movie opens 3/4th into the flick, before flashing back to the beginning, and then building-up to the 3/4th spot and jumping into the last fourth. Yeah, "Memento," thought it was clever going in reverse? This movie jumps all around in time! Plus, there is Halle Berry as Travolta's parter-in-crime as well as life--and we see her boobs! Halle Berry's boobs in a movie not as depressing as, "Monter's Ball," are always a welcome addition. Seriously, "Monster's Ball," is the second most depressing movie ever with, "Monster," in the title--the winner is simply, "Monster," with Charlize Theron, in case you wondered. Oh, Don Cheadle is an FBI agent in this too, and he's always a treat on the screen. 

"Swordfish," has a plot that makes almost no sense, but it is loaded with action, has Travolta doing his usual over-the-top thing with weird monologues about movies that wouldn't be out of place in a Tartino flick, a pre-Wolverine Hugh Jackman being delightfully understated, it is fun! Oh, and there is a bus that gets carried by a helicopter whilst loaded with people from the bank who are equipped with explosives that cause them to blow-up if they get too far from the bus because this movie literally has everything except coherence. Keep in mind this is 2001 when, "Swordfish," came out too, so you know all the stuff dealing with hacking and, "Cyberspace," is really silly and unrealistic because people in 2021 still don't understand hacking and two decades ago it was really foreign to folks!

A helicopter carries a bus full of people rigged to explode if they happen to fall out.
This movie is beautifully insane.

Based on my post's title you already know that, "Swordfish," has bad reviews. Terrible, reviews, frankly. It sits at a wretched 25% on Rotten Tomatoes and people who rent or stream it years later still feel an urge to post negative reviews on websites these days. Forget the haters, though, this movie is awesome if you come into it expecting a spectacle and are willing to not think too hard about the plot. I loved this movie so much I've watched it with all the commentaries with the cast who could best be described as, "Vaguely bemused, mostly bored," when offering their thoughts. I have viewed the many alternate endings that change little about the actual flick. I am all-in on, "Swordfish," damnit, and I still couldn't explain the plot to you without seeming like that meme of Charlie Day from, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," where he looks crazy trying to break-down a conspiracy.

"Swordfish," is not necessarily a good movie, but it is a fun one. Between the great cast, special effects, and general weirdness of the movie jumping-around in time in a manner to seem clever even if it only confuses us more, I love this flick. It is very dumb, yes, but sometimes we just need something entertainingly stupid in our lives.