THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (1999)
A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 2004
The author of this review discovered an interesting pattern in Bond
films. Good opening song (and videoclip) usually means bad Bond
film and vice versa. In 1999 I was very impressed with THE WORLD
IS NOT ENOUGH, videoclip for the title song performed by
"Garbage". This meant that the film, directed by Michael Apted,
would leave much to be desired.
Film's complicated plot starts when British oil tycoon Sir Robert King
(played by David Calder) gets blown away by a bomb in the middle
of MI6 headquarters. M (played by Judi Dench) is angered both by
her service's humiliation and death of an old friend. She orders James
Bond (played by Pierce Brosnan) to protect King's daughter and oil
empire heiress Elektra (played by Sophie Marceau). The most likely
perpetrator of the bombing is Renard (played by Robert Carlyle),
psychopathic terrorist who had kidnapped Elektra in the past. Bond
comes to Azerbaijan, where Elektra wants to build strategically
important oil pipeline. Bond there gets in touch with his old
acquaintance and former KGB agent Valentin Zukovsky (played by
Robbie Coltrane) and meets American nuclear physicist Dr.
Christmas Jones (played by Denise Richards).
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH adheres to the usual Bond formula.
Locations, which include Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and
London's Millennium Dome, are exotic. Action scenes are
spectacular, especially the boat race at the beginning. Brosnan plays
Bond with the usual ease, while Sophie Marceau manages to evade
Bond girl stereotypes. Desmond Llewelyn, who had played Bond's
gadget-master Q for almost four decades, chose probably the best
way to leave the series. Scene of his departure is especially moving,
since the actor died shortly after the production. Michael Apted,
director best known for documentaries and dramas, shows he can
handle action genre very well.
Apted, on the other hand, couldn't handle abysmal script and some
of the questionable casting choices. Good example is character of
Renard. Scriptwriting committee tries to convince the audience that
bullet in someone's brain can cause that person to slowly die and get
stronger at the same time. Carlyle, who is one of Britain's best actors,
tries too hard to make portray Renard as a human being - his
performance seems more suitable for prison parole boards than for
audiences expecting to see another Bond villan. Denise Richards,
who plays scantily-clad nuclear physicist, owes her role to certain
anatomic assets rather than genuine acting ability; hardly anyone in
the audience could accept her as a scientist. This approach might
have worked in AUSTIN POWERS and similar Bond parodies, but
not in the genuine Bond films that need to retain bit of resemblance
to the real world. Finally, there is also a tragic waste of Robbie
Coltrane's talents. His character takes part in one of the uninspired
and unconvincing action scenes in the entire history of the Bond
franchise.
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH might be good film, but only for
those who haven't seen many Bond films. True fans of the franchise
should hope that the next instalments have as much bad opening
songs as possible.
RATING: 3/10 (+)
Review written on August 25th 2004
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax
http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in
Croatian
http://www.ofcs.org - Online Film Critics Society
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