The Bond films have always been bullet proof to a certain extent; no matter how lousy an entry may be audiences do not hold a grudge with the follow-up. With each actor portraying the Secret Agent the quality will take a hit once in a while. Such is the case with Brosnan’s third outing as 007; the 19th is a misshapen, schizophrenic, yet sometimes inspired misfire. Working in reverse, the third time for Brosnan is not the charm as this flick nearly derails the good will created by the previous two. Unlike his predecessors, Sir Sean Connery and Sir Roger Moore, who both achieved superstar status and found their stride in the third picture of their respective eras, “Goldfinger” and “The Spy Who Loved Me,” “The World is Not Enough” does almost everything wrong and creates a few more ways to screw it up. At its heart, the story is reasonably original and tries for at least the first hour to tell a cool tale, but Director Michael Apted (“Coal Miner’s Daughter”, Seven Up”) shows his weakness; a great dramatist, yes, but action is definitely not his forte. Things become personal when a friend of M’s (Judi Dench), oil billionaire Simon King is killed inside MI6 headquarters. Determined to bring the murderers to justice, Bond is dispatched to protect King’s daughter, Elektra (Sophie Marceau) who quickly becomes the killer’s next target. Terrorist, Renard, AKA “The Antichrist” was once a kidnapper of Elektra who had succumbed to “Stockholm Syndrome” during her captivity many years before. She eventually escaped before Renard could collect his $5,000,000 ransom. Renard’s motivation appears at first that he’s out for revenge, but soon it’s revealed he has a far more sinister plan than mere revenge. When Bond catches up, he finds Renard is about to steal a nuclear bomb from a group of scientists, led by the idiotic Christmas Jones (Denise Richards). M shows up just in time to get kidnapped. Bond movies have the sole luxury of not being judged by the same rules as other films. They’ve created their own standards and audiences expect- for the most part, that Bond adheres to an acceptable level of believability and coherence. I give the story points for trying to make Bond human, by giving him a realistic story, at least for the Bond universe, and avoiding the megalomaniac baddie, but Director Michael Apted squanders this cool story by delivering sub par action and THE worst Bond girl-ever. Apted is an excellent dramatist, he gets outstanding performances from all three leads, Brosnan, Dench and Marceau, but he knows nothing about how to stage a big, coherent, tense action scene with logic and a sense of geography. For the first time since “For Your Eyes Only”, Bond is on skis and quickly becomes the target of two helicopters armed with multiple, oversized buzz saws; a cool idea, but executed horribly as Apted seems to be bored by this sort of thing and rushes through it. Although a few action scenes do work; the boat chase in the pre-credit sequence is done with style and skill and the chase through the oil pipeline is tense and exciting and several foot chases are well done, but the finale in the submarine makes zero sense and looks to be edited with a chainsaw. Action is what makes or breaks a Bond film, but what keeps this film from being thrown on the dung heap are the performances and some wonderful character development for Bond, which is unusual for this series. Out of all four films, this is Brosnan’s best performance, he delves deep into Bonds psyche and makes him colder than we are use to; yet vulnerable, complicated and sometimes a real bastard; his dead wife Tracy is never mentioned, but her ghost acts as a shield that prevents him from totally committing to Elektra King. French actress, Sophie Marceau is the best Bond girl since Carol Bouquet in “For Your Eyes Only.” She’s attractive, tough and her chemistry with Brosnan is palpable. It’s easy to see why Bond digs her as she reminds him very much of his late wife. Judi Dench as “M” continues to be the stern task-master, her role is expanded somewhat as she’s kidnapped and yet it works despite how contrived it may appear. As good as those actors are Richards and Carlyle nearly drag the whole thing to a screeching halt. Take Denise Richards…please! Starring as Nuclear scientist Christmas Jones is hands down the worst Bond girl since Tanya Roberts in “AVTAK,” Nay the worst Bond girl-ever! Yes, even the putrid Maud Adams was never this awful. I can’t believe I just wrote that, but it’s true! A relevant anecdote to Richards acting capabilities was once written by a wise critic about another evil monster, Madonna in one of her many awful movies said ‘she couldn’t play dead convincingly if she had a bullet buried in her brain.’ Richards is one of those actresses that if she were starring in a production of “Anne Frank,” you would root for the Nazis. Like nails on the chalk board, her child-like voice borders on creepy as does her fake, fixed smile that never seems to leave her stupid face. With all the appeal of a dead possum, Richard’s glassy-eyed haze makes it hard to accept her as anything remotely attached to intelligent thought; never for one moment does she do or spout anything credibly. However, her character’s stupid name, Christmas Jones, sets up the best Bond joke ever. After a night of humping their brains out;
Bond says: "I was wrong about you."
Jones: "Yeah, how so?"
Bond: "I thought Christmas came only once a year."
Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting) has an interesting back-story as “Renard”, codename: The Antichrist, who has a bullet lodged in his brain that prevents him from feeling pain, he’s slowly dying, but grows stronger everyday. Past the set-up, the character’s fury is never fully exploited or handled beyond a generic touch nor is his past connection to King delved into fully. His physical stature is smaller compared to Brosnan so any menace is but gone by the time the two face off. Desmond Llewellyn, a staple since “From Russia with Love” retired after “Tomorrow Never Dies” in which he set up his replacement, “R, (John Cleese), died shortly before the films release in a motor vehicle accident. He is acknowledged briefly as R shows off some clever gadgets like X-ray glasses, a jacket that inflates into a survival bubble. His shtick is a tad over-the-top, but does a nice job to add some humor. David Arnold returns to compose the score that is mostly forgettable as he uses way too many techno cues, although his use of John Barry’s work is welcomed, the main theme by the now defunct band “Garbage” is just that and is instantly forgettable. A hard movie to completely dismiss as Brosnan and Marceau elevate this up a level we aren’t use to for a Bond picture. Their emotional, complicated sparring is the sole reason to watch and Denise Richard’s lousy performance is the sole reason to avoid. A strange mixture of some of the best and worst moments of the Bond franchise, co-exist somewhat peacefully making this the bastard step child of the Brosnan years.