THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

              Bond fans have had a lot to be thankful for in the ‘90s. Since the release of Goldeneye the series has been revitalized both creatively and in terms of box office power. Pierce Brosnan, the 5^th man to play James Bond, deserves much of that credit. His take on 007 is the best since Sean Connery’s; combining the character’s intrinsic cruelty with just enough tongue-in-cheek charm. Bond fits Brosnan like a tailored Sevile Row suit. In The World Is Not Enough, the 19^th installment of the MGM/UA series, he continues to build on his credentials.

The film opens in Spain, where Bond is sent to retrieve $5 million from a crooked Swiss banker. The mission results in an assassination of a billionaire industrialist and culminates in a spectacular speedboat chase (the series’ best) down the Thames river and downtown London; bringing the action home for a change. All this before the title sequence. The rest of the plot follows Bond as he protects the industrialist’s beautiful (of course) daughter, played well by Sophie Marceau, and attempts to capture international terrorist Renard (The Full Monty’s Robert Carlyle). For a change, the film’s plot is actually its strong point. This is as complex as the series has ever gotten. There are plenty of twists and turns and, believe it or not, real character development. Even Bond himself is humanized somewhat by an injury suffered in the opener that keeps recurring throughout the film. This guy is human after all. But not all the elements come together in a satisfactory way.

The World Is Not Enough is directed by Michael Apted, director of such “chick flicks” as Nell and The Coalminer’s Daughter. Apted is probably the series’ most high profile director to date, and he does bring a dramatic weight to the film that was virtually non-existent before. Where the film fails, however, is the action. Aside from the opening chase, all the action set pieces have a “been there, done that” quality that is reminiscent of the John Glen directed Bonds of the late ‘80s. The ski chase, for example, is probably the series weakest ever. Bond’s car seems like nothing more than product placement. And the mediocre finale is, once again set on a submarine, just like in the last Bond film. Did the producers forget? The goon Renard, who is described as a virtual superman early on in the film, never gets much to do outside of holding hot rocks in his bare hands (ooh!). And when it comes to a final showdown between him and Bond, 007 virtually bitch slaps him. The other Bond girl, Dr. Christmas Jones (Denise Richards), is downright laughable. Way too young to be a nuclear scientist and delivering all of her lines as though she’s auditioning for a high school production of “You Can’t Take It With You”. That’s a shame, especially after a string of terrific Bond women in Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies.  There are some nice moments provided by Robbie Coltrane as the lovable Russian mobster from Goldeneye and ex-Python John Cleese as Q’s replacement, but the film does drag somewhat. And after the last plot twist kicks in, it’s cruise control time.

In the end, it’s almost pointless to grade James Bond films in comparison to the rest of action cinema. The series is it’s own entity and as each new 007 movie comes out, one invariably has to judge it against previous Bond films. Unfortunately, despite its dramatic strengths, The World Is Not Enough falls below Tomorrow Never Dies and Goldeneye. Fans will enjoy much of it, but the series and Brosnan still have a better film in them. Maybe next century.