TOMORROW NEVER DIES, despite a troubled shoot, ended up being another hit for the Bond producers- which, after Cubby Broccoli’s death in 1996, became his heirs, Barbara Broccoli, & Michael G. Wilson. Both had been with the series for years- and Wilson shared screenplay credit on most of the Bond films made in the eighties.
For the next outing, it was decided to bring Bond down to earth. Brosnan supposedly yearned for a more serious exploration of the character, and the decision was made to scale back this installment after the over the top action of TOMORROW NEVER DIES.
PLOT: Bond investigates the assassination of a top oil exec with close ties to M. He’s led to the man’s daughter- Elektra King, who turns out to be in cahoots with a notorious international assassin named Renard- who’s just gotten his hands on some weapons grade plutonium.
REVIEW: While THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH had a lot of potential, it ended up being one of the most mediocre Bond’s in recent memory. While it’s not a bad film per se, it’s a remarkably bland outing for Bond- lacking a decent villain, a strong love interest, a cohesive plot, and, besides a great boat chase in the teaser- doesn`t even have any very good action scenes.
For some reason, the decision was made to hire British director Michael Apted- despite the fact that he had zero experience in helming action films, and was used to making small scale, character driven dramas. Obviously, Wilson & Broccoli just wanted a `yes man` who would do what he was told, but by hiring someone unqualified to shoot this type of film, they ended up with a Bond film that has no energy, or excitement, and seems more like an expensive TV show than $100 Million plus blockbuster.
BOND
Pierce Brosnan is pretty much the only good thing about this film, although it`s obvious that by the point, he was more or less phoning in the role. I think he was beginning to tire of Bond- and it`s interesting to compare this film to another film he made in `99- THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, where he seems much more energized. Still- watching this film, you can`t really blame Brosnan for being somewhat bored.
Robert Carlyle as Renard is one of the lamest villains of the series- which is a surprise as Carlyle is a very good actor. Ditto for Sophie Marceau- who`s one of my favourite actresses, but here her transformation from vulnerable heroine, to psychotic baddie is very hard to swallow.
BOND MUSIC: David Arnold is back- but his score is fairly bland in this outing- just like the rest of the film. The theme song by Garbage is decent- but nothing spectacular.
BODY COUNT: Another high Brosnan body count- with twenty bad guys killed by Bond.
NUMBER OF WOMEN BOND SLEEPS WITH: Three, which by this point is more or less the standard.
BEST ONE- LINER: After a helicopter slices his BMW in half- “Q`s not going to like this! “ This actually brings me to the most noteworthy thing about this film- it was sadly Desmond Llewellyn’s last outing as Q, as he died in a car accident shortly after production. John Cleese as R- who was Q`s assistant in this, ended up taking over the role in the following film.
BEST DOUBLE ENTENDRE: A groan worthy- “I thought Christmas comes only once a year“.
BEST GADGET: : The tricked out motorboat from the teaser is pretty rad.
RECEPTION: Blandness aside- THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH was another smash- probably due to the continued appeal of Pierce Brosnan. The film pulled in $126 million in the U.S, and $362 million worldwide- a franchise record at the time.
GRADE: 6 /10- a bland film, but not an offensively bad one.
Previous reviews: DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE , GOLDFINGER, THUNDERBALL, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER , LIVE AND LET DIE, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, MOONRAKER, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, OCTOPUSSY, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, A VIEW TO A KILL, THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, LICENCE TO KILL, GOLDENEYE, TOMORROW NEVER DIES