Review 160: The World Is Not Enough
When British oil tycoon and M's (Judi Dench) friend Sir Robert King is killed in a bombing at the MI6 headquarters, it becomes James Bond's (Pierce Brosnan) new assignment to protect his daughter and heir Elektra (Sophie Marceau) from further harm. Renard (Robert Carlyle), a man who can't feel physical pain due to a bullet in his head, seems to play an important role in the sabotage of the ongoing construction of the new King pipeline, which can give oil to all the world for the future. The three competing pipelines all end up in Istanbul, whereas the King pipeline is being laid elsewhere, and therefore is an easy goal to anonymous attackers. James Bond involuntarily teams up with emancipated Dr. Christmas Jones (Denise Richards), and they soon find out that there is more threat to the situation than just some pipeline sabotage.
The plot is brilliant, it's darker than Brosnan's two previous outings and takes a more psycological, more twisted approach to 007 which I find very original for a Bond film. I also think it's a very human story as well: You see all our characters act humanly and quite selfishly in a way, M for telling her friend Sir Robert (David Calder) not to pay Elektra's ransom money, Bond for has falling for a woman with a dark secret, brain-damaged Renard spends the film pining for his lost sense of touch
Classic Bond themes of World Domination and Seduction come into play
Renard wants to control the oil supplies and it shows how valuable oil is to mankind.
Director Michael Apted direction is sublime, the cinematography is beautiful and captures the beauty of the locations; the score by David Arnold is great, the title song by Garbage is thematic and engrossing, the action scenes are some of the best and most memorable in the series from an boat chase on the Thames, a ski chase that's clearly evoking On Her Majesties Secret Service and a climax on a submarine), there are some great moments of humor, suspense and intensity. The production design is excellent, the costume design is majestic, the effects are fantastic, the locations (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey) are fabulous, the sound effects are terrific, the scenery is breathtaking and and the effect of the closing sequence is exhilarating. Plus M gets a bigger role in the film than any other film in the series which is a great change than just seeing her give 007 his assignment.
Director Michael Apted direction is sublime, the cinematography is beautiful and captures the beauty of the locations; the score by David Arnold is great, the title song by Garbage is thematic and engrossing, the action scenes are some of the best and most memorable in the series from an boat chase on the Thames, a ski chase that's clearly evoking On Her Majesties Secret Service and a climax on a submarine), there are some great moments of humor, suspense and intensity. The production design is excellent, the costume design is majestic, the effects are fantastic, the locations (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey) are fabulous, the sound effects are terrific, the scenery is breathtaking and and the effect of the closing sequence is exhilarating. Plus M gets a bigger role in the film than any other film in the series which is a great change than just seeing her give 007 his assignment.
Overall the acting is great, Pierce Brosnan is in fine form playing James Bond
Sophie Marceau and Robert Carlyle are an interesting pair of villains playing Elektra King and Renard respectively. The film smartly forces us as an audience to question their relationship as you can never truly tell if Elektra is manipulating Renard for her own ends or it's the other way around. We can also never be truly sure if she genuinly loves Renard (however twisted it may seem) or if it's all just an act.
Electra is a very complex character because she’s a woman of many faces; She’s a very powerful woman because she comes from a great family that owns pipelines.
Due to him having a bullet logged, in his brain that’s slowly killing him, he’s basically living on borrowed time.
Judi Dench is fabulous as usual as M. Her personal connect to the King family makes her more implicated in the plot than recent entries have allowed her and she feels a great deal of guilt and remorse for what happened to Elektra
Robbie Coltrane's return as Valentin Zukovsky is more than welcome -
Denise Richards, however, feels woefully miscast and out of place in the role of Dr. Christmas Jones. To quote film critic Leonard Maltin: "It's an almost-fatal flaw." Apart from being absolutely not credible as a Nuclear Physicist, she comes across as a bland character in her own right and has practically no chemistry with Pierce Brosnan especially after the likes of Izabella Scorupco and Michelle Yeoh.
Denise Richards, however, feels woefully miscast and out of place in the role of Dr. Christmas Jones. To quote film critic Leonard Maltin: "It's an almost-fatal flaw." Apart from being absolutely not credible as a Nuclear Physicist, she comes across as a bland character in her own right and has practically no chemistry with Pierce Brosnan especially after the likes of Izabella Scorupco and Michelle Yeoh.
Despite Richards describing the character as "brainy, athletic and having depth of character, in contrast to Bond Girls from previous decades." These characteristics just don't leap off the screen.
She didn't appear until almost an hour (halfway through) into the film and generally came across as an underdeveloped third whell and an adherence to the film. She also dilutes the impact of Elektra on Bond. As soon as Bond has dealt with Miss King, the shock has vanished. Why? Because a replacement Bond Girl has entered stage right to help him get over the betrayal.
The World Is Not Enough , 4/5.
The Anonymous Critic
The Anonymous Critic
Comments
Post a Comment