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The World Is Not
Enough
1999
Director: Michael
Apted
Starring: Pierce
Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, Robert Carlyle, Judi Dench, Robbie Coltrane, Denise
Richards
Rated PG-13
Remember 007, shadows
always remain in front or behind... never on top.
~Q
STATS
Kills: 25
Bond Girls: Elektra
King, Christmas Jones, Dr. Molly Warmflash
Cars: BMW Z8
Locales: Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Istanbul
Odd Villain Trait:
Renard has a bullet in his head, taking away his body’s senses, it will
eventually kill him as it slowly travels through his brain, making him already
dead. Also there is Bullion who has a
gold set of chompers.
Song: “The World Is
Not Enough” performed by Garbage
Okay, skipping an introduction paragraph and shooting right
past the brief synopsis, let’s just get to THE biggest sticking point of this
movie right away. Denise Richards
stinks. And she lays a big egg in this
film. I’m fully aware of that. Not only is her performance lame, but she’s
brings zero accountability to her role as a nuclear scientist. I don’t think she is the worst Bond girl of
all time (minor spoiler, I prefer this kind of crap Bond girl to what we’re
going to get in the next film), but she definitely earns a place in the top
5-10 worst. Just because she sucks does
not mean this film does. I think a lot
of the ill regard to The World Is Not
Enough revolves around people’s memory of this character. She doesn't show up until an hour in, and a
better costumed and more skilled performer might have people looking back more
fondly on this film. And yes, her
character has no business (maybe because Richards isn't good) being involved in
many scenes, but I argue this is far from the first time this has
happened. For me, and after seeing
pretty face after pretty face “attempt” to act in earlier films during my
marathon, I’m able to shrug it off and enjoy the film being provided.
With his injury seems to bring about a soft spot for
vulnerability as Bond sees in the Bond girl, Elektra King. While no big relationship happens between the
two, its obvious from the moment Bond sees her hostage video, that he is taken
with her. It only makes her revelation
as the villain sting even when he figures it out. This shows even more character progression
with the Brosnan Bond as this mission brings he and M even closer. This takes their relationship to the point
where the report that Connery or Moore’s Bond had with M has taken its time and
become earned.
M is personally involved in the story for once and this one
drives home. She loses a good friend,
has his daughter turn on her and to top it off, has a terrorist come at her for
revenge for a failed assassination.
Because of this adventure and her hand and vulnerability showing, as
well as a shared betrayal with Bond, it opens her up to him and gets them both
on the same page and deeper level of trust.
Had Brosnan done a few more, maybe this could have been taken to some
more ultimate level, but the producers seemed to thrive on slowly building
Pierce Brosnan and Judi Dench’s relationship on screen film-to-film.
Our villain Renard has been complained in the past as
boring. I really don’t think so. He’s got a damn cool trait to carry
along. When I first saw the movie, I was
more than excited to discover his character as he fit the description of a
classic Bond villain but done with some thought and originality. He doesn’t go over the top and waits in the
shadows, but he’s just fine and more than serviceable to the film and
plot. Elektra compliments it well as the
Bond girl in the “what if the Bond girl was the big bad” scenario that a movie
like Octopussy failed to go for. Marceau can turn on the charm and pity and
switch it to evil really well. She also
meets a cool demise as Bond shoots her in cold blood (no, Scott, it doesn't bother me that she taunts him about it before he does it).
Aside from a ski chase (ding ding, #6), most of the action
feels authentic and genuine for the series. We've had boat chases before, but this one definitely stands on its
own. The film features plenty of shoot
outs with some being rather exciting.
I’m thinking of the one at the caviar factory as rather exciting. It’s got a lot of obstacles and things
blowing up and just works really well. The
final battle in the submarine between Renard and Bond isn't much, but is
serviceable and doesn't last very long (6-7 minutes).
One big thing I’ll always remember from The World Is Not Enough is the theater’s reaction to the final line
spoken by James Bond before credits. “I thought Christmas only comes once a year.” resulted in one of the loudest
groan/laughs I've ever experienced in the theater. And it kinda has you leaving a good movie
with a bad taste in your mouth. You
know what? I’m sure that’s what they were going for. I’m sure it was a joke that got shoe-horned
into a character name and line into this film.
So, I pose to you, readers, who wins the most groan-worthy contest? Moonraker’s
“I believe he’s attempting re-entry” or The
World Is Not Enough’s “I thought Christmas only comes once a year.” Make your argument in the comments below.
Desmond Llewelyn bows out as Q in this film. The actor decided to retire. This marks the last of the original canon to
appear in a film. Llewelyn’s era went 36
years and appearing in 17 films. We are
introduced to his replacement R (makes me wonder, who are N, O and P?),
seemingly a parodied look at Q. If
Llewelyn plays his rather smug and straight, Cleese brings the cartoonish and jokey
approach. Rather bizarrely, Llewelyn
died shortly after filming this, not of old age, but in a car accident. So he really meant it when he said it was his
last one.
Personally, I rather like this entry. I think it’s a little step up from the previous one and offers some fresh ideas while keeping to the series
tropes. I like Brosnan’s Bond’s
progression in making him a more three-dimensional character (as well as his
supporting cast). The villains may not
be strongest individually, but they succeed as a duo. I know it's cool nowadays to dog on the
Brosnan era. If you look at some
people’s assessment, you’d think things were in the shitter and Bond was going
out of style fast. They couldn't be farther from the truth. People were buying what his Bond was
selling. And at the time, these three were
of the best action films in their respective years. The
World Is Not Enough became the highest grossing Bond film of all time in
1999 (only to be topped by the following, so people were still coming in droves). Tomorrow Never Dies didn't top Goldeneye,
but it wasn't far off and who knows where it would have gone had it not opened
alongside Titanic. At the time of their respective releases, nobody
was complaining about or mocking these films.
And as the 007 films are a product of their time, I think as long as
they aren't too far out of touch or offensive (Goldfinger rape scene), they should be judged as they were in their
place and time. I think a lot of 007
“experts” that keep popping up this year need to keep this in mind.
Christopher Nolan seems to like The World Is Not Enough just as I do, as it appears the beat-for-beat
basis for The Dark Knight Rises
plot. Tell me you can’t swap Bond,
Elektra, Renard and Christmas Jones with Batman, Talia, Bane and Catwoman. Oh yeah, and underground nukes. Can’t forget the nukes!
Brandon Peters will return in DIE ANOTHER DAY
Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com/@btpeters
E-mail – naptownnerd@gmail.com
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