Year of Release: 1997
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Michelle Yeoh, Judi Dench, Jonathan Pryce, Teri Hatcher, Ricky Jay, Joe Don Baker, Vincent Schiavelli, Gotz Otto, Samantha Bond, Desmond Llewelyn, Colin Salmon, Geoffrey Palmer, Julian Fellowes, Terence Rigby, Cecilie Thomsen, Nina Young
Genre: Action
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review
Following the immense success of "Goldeneye", the James Bond creative team was incensed to continue that success, and quickly reconvened with a new director in order to continue the adventures of the super spy, embodied by the newly appointed Pierce Brosnan. This time around James Bond gets involved in a scenario which includes a media magnate by the name of Elliot Carver, who is coincidentally married to one of his former lovers by the name of Paris, and who has made himself a figure of wealth and influence by owning a series of publishing outlets and broadcast stations. As it turns out, Carver is intent in provoking a war between China and the UK, broadcasting everything through his channels and reaping the audience numbers and money from the coverage of the whole ordeal. With that in mind he has some missiles he plans on deploying. Bond, with the help of Wai Lin, a Chinese State Security agent, they both manage to abort the firing one of the missiles directed at Beijing, but Wai Lin is captured in the process, forcing Bond to figure out a plan to rescue her and still deter Carver's plans.
Roger Spottiswoode's career was not in the best of places in the mid 1990s when he chose to tackle "Tomorrow Never Dies". "Air America" didn't work at the box office nor with the critical responses, something that was made even worse with his next feature, "Stop! Or My Mom will Shoot", which was ridiculed, and not solely for its title. He got some redemption soon after with "And the Band Played On", and he remained in TV land, until the James Bond opportunity presented itself. Unlike Martin Campbell's "Goldeneye" which managed to reasonably balance the silliness and campy factor that at times permeates across the James Bond films, Roger Spottiswoode had a tougher time of reconciling these aspects, with the villainous Elliot Carver being an over the top villain, one that was almost too much for the narrative itself, something that Toby Stephens would repeat once again in "Die Another Day" (less is definitely more as some of the other Bond villains started to realize, including the fantastic Javier Bardem in Sam Mendes' "Skyfall"). The cartoonish aspect of some of the characters took away some of the grittiness Martin Campbell had set in motion with "Goldeneye", and in a way, "Tomorrow Never Dies" was a step back in the direction of the films that John Glen directed for the series during the 1980s (though not quite as tongue in cheek). The film does successfully place Michelle Yeoh as a co-lead, much more effectively than prior Bond Girls in similar situations had been rendered, but sadly she never got much to do, even if she is indeed a scene stealer wherever and whenever she appears. The film suffers from some tonal issues, undecided if it wants to be slicker than its previous chapters, or just as over the top. Ultimately there are some solid action set pieces, such as Bond and Wai Lin escaping Carver's building, but this ended up being a middling affair during Pierce Brosnan's tenure with the character. The cast while populated with great performers, had to portend with characters with very little dimension, including Jonathan Pryce's Elliot Carver (someone must have told the actor to go louder and louder), the previously mentioned Michelle Yeoh, and the always remarkable Judi Dench, who stole every scene she found herself in. The production team was excellent, including David Arnold's score, Robert Elswit's cinematography, and Allan Cameron's production design. It's a watchable and noisy entry to the series, but definitely a step down from "Goldeneye".
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