The author of this review discovered an interesting pattern in Bond films. Good opening song (and music video) 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 (+)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on August 25th 2004)
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