Sunday, June 5, 2016

The World is Not Enough

Movie Name: The World is Not Enough
Year of Release: 1999
Director: Michael Apted
Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, Robert Carlyle, Judi Dench, Denise Richards, Robbie Coltrane, John Cleese, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Samantha Bond, Michael Kitchen
Genre: Action, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis & Review:
After the successful "Tomorrow Never Dies", the James Bond franchise continued with Michael Apted's "The World is Not Enough". The film places James Bond as a protector of a young oil heiress, who may have a secret agenda of her own as far as her relationship with him is concerned. Elektra's father was murdered by the dangerous Renard, who wants to destroy a crucial oil pipeline, and provoke a nuclear meltdown and therefore increase the oil prices. The stakes increase when M is also taken hostage, with James Bond having to rely on the assistance of Dr. Christmas Jones to stop this scheming plot.
Michael Apted was an interesting choice to tackle James Bond, since his career has been primarily focused on documentaries and dramas (he directed "Gorillas in the Mist", "Nell" and "Coal Miner's Daughter" to name but a few). His touch however isn't particularly felt, since the film feels very formulaic, as is the case with most of James Bond adventures. "The World is Not Enough" in particular features supporting female characters that are cliche ridden and in the specific case of Christmas Jones, borderline nonsensical. The film has some edge with the talented Robert Carlyle bringing some menace to an otherwise generic role, while Judi Dench as always has an imposing and commanding presence as M. Interestingly as Pierce Brosnan continued his 4 film run as the impervious spy, the stunts and the impact of the directorial second unit  kept on growing, as the scripts got sillier and sillier (his swan song "Die Another Day" was even more ludicrous than usual), which is also the case of "The World is Not Enough". The edge that Martin Campbell brought to the franchise with "Goldeneye" (and later on with "Casino Royale") wasn't taken into account in this film, that at times almost looks and sounds like a parody.

0 comments: