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The World is not Enough (1999)  Bond: Pierce Brosnan The Evil Mastermind: Robert Carlyle as Renard The Henchperson:  <- in regards to the review below..I didn't want to give it away, ah well.The Bond Girl: Denise Richards as Christmas Jones Director: Michael Apted IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0143145/ Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8COXJSYpuMg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8COXJSYpuMg Movie summed up in a quote: "Oh, look. We have no roof, but at least we have four good walls." - Zukovsky The story this time is not as flat as it was in Tomorrow Never Lies, and has some moguls of plot on the story's landscape that are far more interesting and immediate to the 007 character than in the previous adventure. It also features some more engaging villains, and a surprise role for "M" that we've been waiting for (no, she doesn't kick someone's rear end, but she does get to show that she is more resourceful than just being a bean counter). We also get some fairly dependable action sequences like the boat race at the beginning, the parahawk sequence, and the arms bazaar that don't seem to be as eyebrow raising as the previous installment. There is a slight feeling of disconnect, though, as they don't seem to have the same type of visceral feel that you might get from someone like Craig's Bond, but they are done well, and have some interesting twists that show more inventiveness on the enemy's behalf than expected (great moment right after Bond says "See you back at the lodge!"). By this point Brosnan is pretty settled in, and has his version of Bond well defined and ready to go from the beginning. He gets to be a little bit overboard with his non-stop grunting and gnashing of teeth, but he's exactly what you expect if you have seen any other entry in the Brosnan series. He is Bond perfection, and would never make a mistake like Craig or Dalton's Bond -to quote his Bond here, he never misses. But at what point do you start being too perfect, and stop being human?  At "Crazy Zukovsky's", everything is 50% off! Of course, you can't have Bond without a leading girl, and we get a very nice selection in Sophie Marceau. She is the the prodigal daughter of an Oil billionaire who gets kidnapped and then bad things happen when her father refuses to pay the ransom. As for the specifics, you would have to just see for yourself. Soon after it's revealed that her kidnapper is back on the scene, and Bond is after him. The kidnapper is Renard, and he has a inconvenient problem - another agent has put a bullet in his head, and the bullet is slowly working its way through his brain killing of his ability to sense things, and presumably his senses as well. The antagonist has nothing to lose, since he knows he's going to die, feels no pain, and has basically lost what over he had left of his mind. Other than this note, the character is somewhat two dimensional, with the exception of his certain connection with the girl whom he has abducted. Then we have one of my favorite re-occurring characters coming back, Valentin. He's a buddy character like Kherim Bey from From Russia with Love, or Columbo from For Your Eyes Only, but the interesting angle of his character is you are never sure if he is going to help Bond, or try to kill him. He is always forced to help Bond against his will, and things never seem to work out for him. Yet, under all his sleaziness, you know there is a good person trying to get out.  This year's model comes complete with regulation flotation devices. Finally, there is Christmas Jones. This is the stuff of legend, so I won't go on about her performance other than to say I am sorely tempted to take another star off of the rating for her character alone. Note that my problem is with the character itself, and really not with Denise Richards. I'm not going to give her enough credit to assume that she had something to do with the way this character was defined. She's not an actress, granted, but beyond this, we have one of the worst casting decisions of all time, wardrobe that is ludicrous (does a nuclear physicist who supposedly hates men really dress like that??) and the script gives her lines that don't sound like anything a scientist would say. I'm all for breaking down stereotypes, but with lines like "Do you wanna put that in English for those of us who don't speak spy?" in response to to "She thinks we're dead.", it doesn't really give credence that she has the mindset necessary to understand the intricacies of nuclear physics. If only they had enough balls to take the wet t-shirt contest she has with Bond at the end to the next obvious level, she would definitely have a defining moment in this film.  Soooo...let me show you what Renard planned to do with that plutonium... All told, a fairly steady Bond flick with some interesting plot twists that could be visualized without too much effort, but certainly with more development and less logic flaws than the previous installment. This is the formula working with expected results. Interesting trivia: Apparently, in an earlier version of the script, the Christmas Jones character here played by Denise Richards had a different profession: She was a Polynesian insurance investigator. This might have even been harder for her to pull off than the nuclear physicist. The Good: Plot that avoids being too linear in fashion, and some reliable action scenes. The Bad: Motherfucking Christmas Jones. The Ugly: That is some baadasssss dental work! FINAL SCORE As a Bond Flick:   As a movie in general:
Yabanjin fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Oct 23, 2009 |
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Oct 14, 2009 12:08
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Yabanjin posted:The World is not Enough (1999) Isnīt that Sophie Marceau`s character? I watched this again after a few years. The first time I saw the film I was 12 years old and thought to myself: "My God. This is so violent . He kills everyone  ."After Casino Royale , this movie just feels so totally ridicoulus. Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist.? A man who feels no pain? Everything is so overblown and cartoonish , but Die Another Day even topped that. In my opinion ,this when the Brosnan films started to become bad . Pros: At least the villian was a complete rear end in a top hat, which is good As you mentioned , the non linear plot Cons: Denise Richards. Seems dated. I give this: 2/5 AstroWhale fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Oct 23, 2009 |
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Oct 22, 2009 23:33
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If the first two Brosman films were good overall, the last two were pretty bad. It isn't as bad as Die Another Day (seriously a clocking car?), but it's definitley lacking compaired to the first two Brosman films. As mentioned, it's a bit cartoony, but at least it's easy to follow. I think I actually prefer the cartoony style over the more realistic Bond. The action is satisfactory and you won't generally be bored by this. So if you like me, enjoyed Tomorrow Never Dies, this should be good enough for your tastes. 3/5
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Oct 23, 2009 17:13
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