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Movie Notes: The World Is Not Enough

February 7th, 2007

The World Is Not Enough

starstarstarstar = 4 stars

Starring Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, Denise Richards
Directed by Michael Apted

Pierce Brosnan (James Bond)

Pierce Brosnan (James Bond)

Sophie Marceau (Elektra King)

Sophie Marceau (Elektra King)

Denise Richards (Christmas Jones)

Denise Richards (Christmas Jones)

After subjecting myself to the debacle that is Die Another Day, I’d likely find any Bond film better, but The World Is Not Enough is undoubtedly a superior film, and a decent entry into the canon. In some ways it’s better than GoldenEye as the plot and directing style is certainly reminiscent of classic, Roger Moore era Bond films. However, a few crucial flaws mar the movie.

For starters (surprise, surprise), Brosnan gets to act. This is the least spectacle and effects-driven Bronsnan Bond film, so he thankfully has room to breathe. There’s also a much more involved plot, dealing with oil rights in the Mideast. “M” (Judi Dench) gets to do more, leading to some table-turning events. “Q” also introduces his replacement, “R” (John Cleese) – a bit of inspired casting.

Especially interesting is the smoldering, complex character Electra King (Sophie Marceau) who may or may not be what she seems to be. Brosnan’s scenes with her are some of the film’s best moments.

Unfortunately, a few things mar The World Is Not Enough and keep it out of 5 star status. One is the awful character Dr. Christmas Jones (Denise Richards), to whom acting means standing still, looking concerned, and speaking with clear diction in monotone. Jones alternately sports a ridiculous Tomb-Raider type outfit and a too-tight purple dress. Some doctor – I liked this character better in Undercover Brother.

Bond also makes an crucial choice to kill a woman (he’s offed surprisingly few: one with a surface-to-air missile (The Spy Who Loved Me), again in Thunderball (though that instance is debatable as while dancing with Fiona Volpe, he turns her into friendly fire, perhaps by accident), and Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye. Anyhow, a moment as unique as this ought to be a bit more emotionally troubling, especially since they slept together earlier in the film.

Lastly, the villains and their nefarious plot is rather wimpy – no space satellites or world destruction – just the detonation of a single nuclear submarine to provide only one oil pipeline, of course controlled by the villains. Although it’s decidedly less audacious, it doesn’t seem to increase its chance of success as the villains seem determined to make things more complicated out of perverse pleasure, I suppose – or just to enable Bond to look smart trying to figure it all out.

But please don’t take these gripes to heart. Everything else about The World Is Not Enough is above average. Certainly check this one out after GoldenEye for entertaining Brosonan-as-Bond. Just be aware that it has some faults and it’s a bit long. But compared to Die Another Day - it’s night and day – and that’s enough to make a world of difference.

Note: I noticed two Hitchcock references that I think were intentional: when Bond chases Elektra up a staircase, it’s reminiscent of Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The end of the film has a romantic moment with fireworks as in To Catch A Thief.

IMDB: The World Is Not Enough
Wikipedia: The World Is Not Enough
Rotten Tomatoes: The World Is Not Enough 53%

Next Bond Movie: Die Another Day
Previous Bond Movie: Tomorrow Never Dies

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folder Categories: 4 Star Movies, James Bond, Movies :: , , , , ::

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  • Rosie Powell
    ["Lastly, the villains and their nefarious plot is rather wimpy - no space satellites or world destruction - just the detonation of a single nuclear submarine to provide only one oil pipeline, of course controlled by the villains."]

    You like those type of plots? I find them ludicrous.
  • In the context of James Bond movies, which one isn't rather ludicrous? You can check out my movie page for quick, general overview of my likes and dislikes. And remember, it's all opinion.

    Thanks for visiting and commenting!
  • Slammerworm
    Sorry mein Webmaster, but once again we gotta agree to disagree. ‘TWINE’ is one odd, lumpen effort. The one good idea was to utilise acting talent a bit more this time around, so there are a lot more scenes of people speaking to each other. After being too busy in ‘Goldeneye’ and only catching his breath in ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, here Brosnan gets to interact extensively with decent thesps like Judi Dench and Robbie Coltrane. Problem is, the writing isn’t up to scratch, the interplay fails to spark and thus the encounters don’t amount to much. Moreover, the movie is saddled with two of the all-time worst Bond Girls; one-dimensional ‘bad girl’ Electra (she does ‘smug, smirky smartass’ and that’s her reaction to everything) and an even more alarming example of miscasting by which eminent nuclear scientist Dr Christmas Jones is apparently played by a chirpy aerobics instructor in her mid-20s. One could find more convincing impersonators of nuclear scientists working behind the bar at the local pub (or maybe even outside in the gutter. She’s that bad). Then there’s Renard the villain, who cannot feel pain or other sensations and thus is kind of superhuman. Sorry, but even if you can’t feel it happening your body is still prone to abuse, and will bruise, burn, blister and break just like it always did. The character was interesting (sort of a young Blofeld), but actor Robert Carlyle was badly underutilised, sharing a mere few underwritten scenes with Brosnan. The gargantuan pre-credits sequence got boring quickly, and the jet boat destruction was straight out of one of Sir Roger’s later, more risible efforts (who cleans the incidental Bond Mission mess up? Does your city have to have James Bond insurance? Surely in some parts of the world he’d be considered a supervillain for causing all that damage). What’s more, Brosnan seemed a bit jaded. Oh, and introducing ‘R’ (John Cleese) was a bad idea. Cleese comes with far too much baggage to be an acceptable substitute for Q. Why do these things all have to be two hours long? This one felt like that and more.
  • Heh I guess I was a sucker for Sophie Marceau's easy on the eyes nature. Definitely, Christmas Jones has got to be one of the worst, too. Perhaps I was too forgiving as I was still smarting from Die Another Day when I saw this one.
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