Mission Summary

Oil tycoon Robert King is killed in an explosion at MI6, and the implication is it was by someone inside his organization. King's daughter Elektra (Sophie Marceau) becomes the head of the company and "M," as a friend of the family, asks James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) to look after her. Bond learns that her new pipeline is in jeopardy, and her former kidnapper, Renard (Robert Carlyle), is behind the plot. But as time goes on, Bond realizes that people are not who they claim to be, and that there is more at stake than destroying a pipeline.

Analysis

Rank: 7

After his first two mediocre showings, Brosnan finally has a chance to show off his talent in this film, and with a tight and intelligent script, it comes together well for a quality Bond adventure. This is truly a modern Bond film, with international oil as the commodity driving the plot, as opposed to the tired idea of world domination. Marceau is fabulous as Elektra, yet Denise Richards is dreadful as Bond's other flame. If you can get past Richards killing every scene she is in, this is the best Bond film in nearly 20 years.

What is great about the plot of this film is the appearance of simplicity: a young woman who just lost her father and inherited an oil company is in jeopardy as well, and Bond needs to protect her. As time goes on, we learn a little bit more about the actual plot, and the real villain and the entire scheme aren't fully revealed until the final third of the movie. As I mentioned, control of oil supplies is a welcome change from the usually Bond plots of world domination or extermination. This also should prevent the movie from feeling dated in a generation, as some of the earlier Connery ones do.

The action is quite as frenzied as the previous Brosnan films, which is actually a good thing. Because Bond assumes his mission is simple, he does quite a bit of actual spy work as opposed to killing anything that moves for the first half of the film. The pre-title sequence is by far the longest of the series, but is suspenseful the entire time and puts the plot into motion. The boat chase down the River Thames is one of the best in the series as well, mostly because of its location (this may be the only time we see Bond in action in London). The remaining action sequences are nothing memorable, yet they are spread out enough that it is a nice break when they arrive. The notion that Renard feels no pain is interesting, but it never seems believable at any point. The scenes with Bond and Renard should have been compelling, but they are the same as any other fight. And why is he grunting when Bond punches him; I thought he felt nothing.

Since Bond does a fair amount of reconnaissance, he uses numerous gadgets in the film. Sadly, this was the last appearance of Desmond Llewelyn playing "Q," as he was killed in a car crash shortly after this film was released. In an interesting twist of fate, the writers included a new apprentice for "Q" (played by a bumbling John Cleese) and included a heartfelt conversation between Bond and "Q." Perhaps Llewelyn had intended this to be his last Bond film, but it was a fitting conclusion to one of the most memorable and beloved characters in the series.

When you have complex characters, you need talented actors to convincingly pull it off. Marceau was an outstanding choice, since she is a true actress and not an action star. Elektra goes through a wide range of emotions in the film, and you believe that she has emotional issues the entire time. At the other end of the spectrum, no one believes for one second that Richards is a nuclear physicist. She always seems to have a deer-in-headlights look on her face and has no feeling behind anything she says. She is the sole reason this film is not in the top five. An interesting development was the expansion of the role of "M" (Judi Dench) this time around. Rather than just hand Bond his marching orders, she is intricately involved in the plot, and Dench can finally show why she is one of the best actresses of all time. As for Bond himself, Brosnan plays a Bond that gets hurt physically and emotionally, and does both quite well. He perfected the darker side of the character this time around and appears more human than ever.

Brosnan peaked at the right time and the combination of his acting, an intriguing leading lady and a constantly evolving plot make the film a terrific adventure ride. Aside from Richards, the cast is solid and they have the flexibility to flex their acting muscles for a change. Locations seem to change too quickly and aren't well developed, but they become largely irrelevant as the film rolls on. All told, "The World is Not Enough" is a contemporary Bond film that traditionalists can appreciate.