dibabear2 Reviews

Payback (I) (1999)

You Gotta Be Kidding Me!

[3/10 · 13 July 2003]

I gave this movie a 3 only because the acting was good considering the plot and script stink. Okay, Lucy Liu as S&M mistress was pretty much hubba, hubba. This story has got more holes in it that Lucy's fishnets. Sorry but other than a mindless 2 hour shoot 'em up, there's not much to the story.

By the way, wreaking that much havoc and mayhem and subjecting oneself to the "harm" that Mel took for $70,000 in this day and age just doesn't pass the 'suspend reality' test.

Die Another Day (2002)

Another Day for Bond?

[7/10 · 28 December 2002]

Overall, it was a good Bond flick with most of the traditional ingredients. Brosnan has grown into the role, especially when you compare his somewhat stiff, though good, reprise in Goldeneye.

Madonna's theme song is pretty ugly and I won't be buying the CD thank you very much. For me the most major annoyance is the use of Matrix-like stop action crap. It's disrupting to the action sequences and doesn't add anything to the film in my opinion.

The worst scene is the Bond parachute surfing bit. Half the theater laughed out loud, myself included. While the Bond films always pushed the envelope of plausibility (especially the later Roger Moore films), this particular scene was so bad to be laughable. Luckily it and the finale were the only really poor scenes in the film.

I'm happy that Brosnan will come back for a fifth appearance as Bond. He seems to strike the correct balance between Sean Connery's serious Bond and Roger Moore's more clownish version.

I'd give the film an 8 but given the above glitches, it's probably a 6 or a 7. Of course, if the next film continues in the direction this one has gone (techno title music, goofy camera effects, way unbelieveable stunts) it might be the last one I'll see.