In The World is Not Enough, Pierce Brosnan returns as 007 in his 3rd run at the life of the super spy. This movie has two of the more beautiful bond girls in Sophie Marceau and Denise Richards. Though not one of the most compelling Bond movies, The World is Not Enough(TWINE) does have it’s moments and possibly the best introduction of the newer Bond titles: Opening with what seems to be a standard meeting between Bond and a few associates, TWINE quickly turns into a reckless chase as James tracks down an assassin who fatally shot a Swiss banker. The chase leads to a long boat sequence down the river Thames and finally into a hot air balloon that explodes (trust me it is a pretty exciting scene). As the balloon explodes, James falls unto the roof of a domed building and the intro music starts.
This Bond film has our hero tangling once again with the KGB against a former hit-man turned anarchist named Renard (Robert Carlyle). Renard had kidnapped Elektra (Sophie Marceau) the beautiful daughter of oil tycoon Robert King and held her for monetary reasons. When MI6 received word on this, M (Dame Judy Dench) sent 009 to put down the vicious Renard and he succeeded in shooting him in the head, but the shot did not kill him. The bullet, still lodged in Renard’s head had damaged all of his senses, slowly killing him and granting him the inability to feel anything. As you can imagine, this makes for quite the formidable foe. James Bond is sent to protect Elektra from her old kidnapper, only to find that things are not what they seem. Along the way he meets a sexy atomic scientist by the name of Christmas Jones (Denise Richards) who becomes a valuable ally in his fight against deception and nuclear disaster.
The usual players are back again, with Dame Judy Dench delivering star quality per the norm and the lovable Q being played by Desmond Llewelyn. Samantha Bond (gotta love her name) is back as the slippery Moneypenny and an introduction to a new Q in John Cleese is made. This James Bond started off with a huge bang but eventually settled into a lull as the poor direction did not make for a good movie at all. The story, compelling enough with the typical twists and turns, is sacrificed to poor action sequences and slow pacing. You may find yourself dozing off during this one and even the breathtaking beauty of Sophie Marceau is not enough to keep you interested. Denise Richards as Christmas felt under-used, unnecessary and seemed confused half the time as James whips back and forth dodging exploding barrels and such.
Not the best Bond by any means but not the worst. With the talent involved I expected better but we all falter once in awhile.
Bond-o-meter Score (ranges from 1-10)
James Bond/Story (6): I’m sure it looked good on paper but this tale suffered from too much.
Bond Girl: Christmas Jones (4): Richards is beautiful, we know this but Christmas was uninteresting.
Bond Toys (7): The Q boat was pretty damn cool, I must admit though the toys weren’t many.
The Villain (7): Sophie Marceau is a beautiful viper, I was even tempted by her, who wouldn’t be.
Moneypenny Bonus (10): My favorite Moneypenny is back in this one, teasing and looking her best.
Written by Greg Dragon – who has written 365 reviews on Spicy Movie Dogs.
Cinephile and opinion writer, Greg Dragon has been a fan of movies since the 80's when Kung Fu theater was all the rage and Roger Moore was James Bond. As an opinion writer that has reviewed Box Office releases on a number of prominent websites, Greg is the founder and lead critic of Spicy Movie Dogs.
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