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Now The World Is Not Enough sure doesn't shake the boat, at least not in a metaphorical sense. Once again we have a threat of global significance; the West's cheap supply of oil. A bunch of fat pipes branch out from the Caspian Sea rigs and it seems that a psycho bad guy, Renard (Robert Carlyle), is out to destroy them. Well, actually, his target is the tube owned by rich, but fatherless, Elektra King (Sophie Marceau). The forces of MI6 become enmeshed by virtue of M's (Judi Dench) longstanding friendship with Sir Robert King (David Calder). Ah, but from here the links become confusing and perhaps better left unsaid. Suffice to say that Commander Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is on his most charming and dangerous top form.
What this really means, if you're wondering, is that director Michael Apted packs the film brim-full of outrageous action sequences. The stunt team, running into double figures, really works its socks off. The World Is Not Enough has people ski off mountains, leap onto mid-air balloons, dive from roiling explosions and swim to the edge deep underwater. At all points the set-pieces (photographed by Adrian Biddle) take you in, throw you about and dump you breathless; each superb, mind-blowing stunt rushes by so fast that your head spins. In fact they may be too agile, like fireworks in the night sky -- the scenes bloom and die so rapidly that you can't quite recall what you saw before the next one hits you. On consideration though, perhaps this is a mildly churlish niggle!
Of course, while Bond flicks always feature an outlandish opening sequence, it's often a worry as to what the remainder will bring. Well, be assured that The World Is Not Enough has a truly first-class beginning; gripping in pace and impressive in construction, it's awesome in its own right. However, be warned that never again does Apted exhibit such tight control over Neal Purvis' and Robert Wade's story. The undistinguished plot remains loose and lacklustre in concept, never really pulling itself together. Without exhibiting faults obvious enough to put your finger on, The World Is Not Enough doesn't have the heart of Tomorrow Never Dies. Its jokes aren't as funny and the action seems forced rather than fluid, never fatally but sufficient to be strength sapping.
Brosnan does his valiant best, putting in a solid rather than stellar day at the office. His demeanour is cheesy, but I guess that comes with the territory. Dench is also on good form, despite getting lumbered with an uncharacteristic emotional outburst. It doesn't suit her role and The World Is Not Enough is poorer for such weakness. Opposite them, seemingly destined for great acts of evil but never given the opportunity, Carlyle is coldly chilling and nasty to boot. It's a shame that Renard doesn't get to demonstrate some inhuman resistance to Bond though, since that's what the story leads you to expect. At least, unlike with Q replacement R (John Cleese), there's no sense of gratuitous miscasting; the latter sticks out like a pig painted red. As for Q (Desmond Llewelyn), he delivers a spookily prescient farewell speech; it's a pity that this is his final curtain.
Overall, The World Is Not Enough is a rather hit-and-miss affair. The quotient of enthusiastically produced action is high, if to the detriment of other traditional elements. There's little bedroom action and barely a casino to be found, making this more an action thriller and less a Bond picture. It is, however, refreshing to witness 007's sinister side, as he executes opponents and forgoes the standard wisecracks. Sadly Brosnan is surrounded by amateur dramatics, with Marceau a grating example. David Arnold's score borrows cleverly from John Barry, incorporating that ever-familiar riff throughout, but Garbage's title song lacks pizzazz. Let's just say that while both the film's budget and appetite are huge, it suffers from a bad case of bloated indigestion.
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