Unpopular opinion: The Iceland part of Die Another Day is not that bad

There's a common talking point I see repeated countless times in the Bond fandom and that's that "The first half is really good but the film starts to suck when Bond goes to Iceland" I cannot tell how much I've seen this exact same talking point repeated over and over again in the Bond fandom with almost no variation, So I want to give my own opinion

Yes, The second half of the film gets pretty ridiculous but like... It's classic campy Bond kind of ridiculous and I enjoy it for what it is, Pierce Brosnan still gives a good performance as Bond, The Iceland landscapes seen in the film are gorgeous and beautifully shot, The Ice Palace is a really well designed set and very much harkens to classic Bond sets and sure it is silly but so is a lair built in a Volcano, Icarus makes for an Ok weapon of destruction of the plot, There's still a good amount of practical effects, Graves is an entertaining Villain and Toby Stephens chews the scenery which makes him fun to watch, Frost is a decent Femme fatale, Zao is an ok henchman but he is made better by the fact he has his own gadget laden car, The Vanquish is one of my favorite Bond cars and It is a beautiful car.. The Invisibility thing doesn't ruin it for me.. It's not anymore ridiculous than a submarine car but I do question how Bond can hide behind an Invisible car and think he cannot be seen I still don't get that, The car chase between Bond and Zao is the high point of the film and seeing two gadget laden cars going against is really cool, Jinx is not that bad of a Bond girl and she does get to kick some ass and the climax between Bond, Graves, Jinx and Frost is fun

There are things to criticize of course, The second half very much clashes with the first considering this is the same film where Bond was tortured and Imprisioned for 14 months and yeah it is quite jarring with how more over the top the second half is, The plot in the first half is a bit stronger as the second half focuses more on the action, The CGI use during this section of film has aged a bit poorly like for example the climax on the plane uses so much CGI and It looks bad, The fast forward editing style in certain scenes is annoying, The Windsurfing scene is the low point of the film with how fake and weightless it is, Some bits of dialogue aren't great especially the Yo mama line from Jinx, Bond being a rogue agent in a first half is pretty much pointless as It doesn't really affect much and he gets reinstated anyway for his mission to Iceland so It's back to business as usual and there isn't much cohesion in that regard, Mr. Kil doesn't really add much as a Henchman and we didn't really need two Henchmans and Just Zao would have been fine

Die Another Day is not a perfect film by any means, But for me it is a Guilty pleasure of mine and I always have a good time watching the film. It's grown on me especially with how fatigued I am with the Craig Era of Bond and I went back and watched the Brosnan films and I just love when Bond can be fun self contained missions, I hope Bond goes back to being more Fun again with a balance tone of Serious and Silly like The Brosnan films but not so much Die Another Day or Moonraker (Roger Moore era film but is one of the more over the top Bond films) but more Goldeneye or Tomorrow Never dies or TWINE. Die Another Day is the weakest of the Brosnan films but I enjoy it for what it is