Plot
A conflict between China and the UK means WW3 is on the horizon, following the sinking of a UK submarine in Chinese waters
When media conglomerate Elliott Carver is able to get the story out moments after it happened, it is questioned by MI6 bosses, so bond goes in to investigate.
Direction
Roger Spottiswoode directs, who has quite the resume to his name.
This feels more “90s action” than James Bond, and because of that it has a different ‘feel’ to it.
Cast
Pierce Brosnan returns for his second appearance as Bond. He slips right back in to the shoes of Bond.
Jonathan Pryce plays Carver, the overzealous mega villain. He feels like an over the top villain even for a Bond film.
Michelle Yeoh gets one of her first forays into Hollywood, playing Col Wai Lin of the Chinese People’s External Security Force. She is equally as skilled as Bond is.
Teri Hatcher plays Paris Carver, Elliot Carver’s wife, and the significant ex of Bond – who “got too close”. Unfortunately there is zero chemistry between Brosnan and Hatcher, and thankfully she stuck to television roles after this, because she was woefully miscast.
Other cast of importance are Ricky Jay as one of Carver’s scientists, Joe Don Baker returning as Jack Wade, Bond’s CIA ally.
MI6 team, Judi Dench, Desmond Llewellyn and Samantha Bond all return as well as M, Q and Moneypenny.
Gerard Butler has a blink and you’ll miss it scene during the pre credit sinking of the HMS Devonshire sinking sequence.
Breakdown
Pierce Brosnan’s second outing as Ian Flemming’s suave agent is a step down from the previous installment. While GoldenEye was a better film than what Brosnan was Bond – here I found the reversal – Brosnan was an improvement – while the film was overall… subpar.
Starting with the opening sequence – while itself is explosive – it didn’t really utilise the Bond character as well as it could have (even if he saved the day from nuclear war).
The premise of the film, in which uber wealthy media baron Elliot Carver (played to perfection by the usually composed Jonathan Pryce) wants to create war between the UK and China. He has been able to create fallacies in the data to put warships in different parts of the sea than they think, and then the two countries attack each other.
Because Carver’s “Tomorrow” newspaper is able to bring the news to the people so quickly, M (Judi Dench – still slightly underused) suspects him to be behind the conflict straight away – and Bond investigates.
This sets in motion Bond reconnecting with an old love (the one who ‘got too close’ and Bond let slip away) who just happens to be Carvers wife. Unfortunately there is zero chemistry between Brosnan and Teri Hatcher (who thankfully went right back to television roles after this). None of their time together feels organic, and even true to the character of Bond himself.
Bond also meets Wai Lin – who like Bond is pretending to be someone else, and she too is a secret agent with the Chinese Government (trying to work out why China and the UK are at odds). I’m glad they gave Michelle Yeoh plenty to do here, as she has shown time and time again why she is such a superstar in her own right. I didn’t really buy the ‘end chemistry’ that is predictable for Bond.
Unfortunately Bond doesn’t make best friends with Carver right away – and there is plenty of conflict between them, as well as Carver’s men (which gives some fairly decent action sequences). It is always hard to top the previous film in regards to these, and with scenes like Bond driving a car with a remote control, a motorcycle chase sequence while Bond and Wai Lin are handcuffed to each other, jumping off a building while handcuffed to each other, and diving to a sunken submarine… while the sub is falling off an underwater cliff… this has plenty to keep you on the edge of your seat!!! Some are a tad aged, such as Bond’s HALO jump sequence.
Another problem I had was the character of Carver. He never once ‘hides’ from his megalomaniac villainy – and since he is supposed to be such a well regarded public figure – I thought they could have done more to ‘hide’ him from plain sight so to speak.
I really felt this was the most “un Bond” Bond film to date. It missed the heart and soul of a Bond film, and went too over the top with the ‘cartoon villain’ in Carver.
At times, there is so much action and gunfire, you almost forget that this is a Bond film, until the theme is playing behind the action.
Overall
A step down from the previous entry, with a megalomaniac villain that doesn’t even belong in a Bond film. A little more character development would have been better.
Some okay action sequences, which are helped by the brilliant Michelle Yeoh, who was in her prime here. The other Bond girls are non believable, and probably should stick to television (which they did).
3.5/5
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