MGM
Barbara Broccoli , the longtime manufacturer of the Bond dealership , lately revealed thatthe hunting for the next 007 is afoot . Bond is one of those information processing that will never conk , no matter how much fourth dimension passes in between projects or how good or defective they might be . Indeed , the enfranchisement is full of undeniably high peaks , likeGoldfingerandCasino Royale , and embarrassingly low vale , likeMoonrakerandDie Another Day . Most of Pierce Brosnan ’s tenure as 007 is somewhere in between , with his four - film stint as the undercover agent with a license to kill propose an spotty blend of well - execute action and unadulterated and quite unintentional camp .
Of his four movies , the third , Michael Apted’sThe World Is Not Enough , is the difficult to pin down . On the one bridge player , it ’s absolutely dread , with a cockeyed news report that embraces the worst panorama of the franchise and clumsy action sequence that have aged like milk . And yet , the movie is so shamelessly entertaining and deliriously silly that it ’s hard not to fall down under its charm . On its 25th anniversary , let ’s see back at the complicated bequest ofThe World Is Not Enoughand hash out how this pleasurably awe-inspiring movie is still one of the most purely pleasurable James Bond outings .
MGM
Nowhere near enough
The World Is Not Enoughstars Brosnan as James Bond , the suave and expert spy with a license to drink down on behalf of Her Majesty ’s Secretc Service . This time , he find himself involved in the aftermath of the execution of billionaire businessman Sir Robert King at the hands of the unsafe terrorist Renard ( Robert Carlyle ) . Bond is assigned to protect King ’s daughter , Elektra ( Sophie Marceau ) , who was previously Renard ’s captive . During the appointment , he meet American atomic physicist Christmas Jones ( Denise Richards ) and discovers a plot to increase the price of crude oil by triggering a atomic nuclear meltdown in the water off Istanbul .
From that patch alone , you’re able to pretty much take over the type of movieThe World Is Not Enoughends up being . Whereas Brosnan ’s first excursion as Bond , GoldenEye , was a real spy thriller , and the sequel , Tomorrow Never give way , was a Hong - Kong - tempt action spectacle , The World Is Not Enoughis camp embodied . The celluloid is freakish , like a teen rendering of James Bond : overly horny , clumsy , silly , and corny . And yet , it has an ove - complicated plot that thinks so highly of itself that it descend into absurdity . The script goes into some unfeignedly get place . It want to seem like an acute political thriller , but failing , it must be said , quite miserably .
Brosnan also looks deplorably confused at the whole affair , but , ever the consummate professional , he does n’t let it derail his public presentation . Sure , he often looks like he wants to give aThe Office – style look at the camera after every dumb line he ’s asked to say , particularly when he name - strike down the deed with all the subtlety of a pounding . Still , Brosnan sell it , which is more than can be said for many other actors in similarly bad movies . Carlyle , too , does incredibly well with what he ’s given , jaw scenery left and ripe as the KGB agentive role - turned - terrorist at the heart of the motion-picture show ’s plot . Supporting player like Dame Judi Dench and the late Robbie Coltrane are also dependably good at bring some logic to the gimcrack .
I also must stick up for I. A. Richards , whose performance as Christmas Jones has long been the guinea pig of ridicule . Sure , she ’s not the most believable nuclear physicist , and certain , shereallystruggles to get her dialogue decently , have alone make it believable . Yet , there ’s a timber to her performance that meet the movie ’s campy tone . She have every line with the self-confidence of a toddler in high hound , and I , for one , be intimate her for it .
The Bond Girl has never been particularly well - developed , and Christmas Jones is about as complex as a 2 x 2 multiplication trouble . However , Richards does a pot to prevent Jones from becoming a walk joke by prefer for a self - aware approach that not nearly enough people acknowledge . The film has her deliver a cluster of physics price in hotpants and bathed in baby oil , for holler out loud ; it ’s to her course credit and the dignity she brings to the role that Jones is n’t the joke the picture tries to deform her into .
If she can’t have it all, then nobody will
You might have noticed that I have yet to mention the strongest aspect ofThe World Is Not Enough , and justifiedly so , for Sophie Marceau deserves a section to herself . The César Award winner play Elektra King , the film ’s apparent leading lady who is more than foregather the eye . Indeed , Elektra is actually the film ’s primary resister — she drink down her father and uses Renard to action her challenging petroleum secret plan . Marceau ’s task is challenging , as she plays both sides of the traditional Bond Girl : the damoiselle in distress and the femme fatale . The actress come out on top , crafting a deliciously wicked villainess that not only ranks as the best antagonist in the Brosnan era , but one of the overall dear in the 007 serial .
And yet , she ’s scarcely an factual opponent . Marceau spends most of the pic play the consist game , commit a soft balancing act of scarred kidnap victim and manipulative seductress and making it look effortless . Her eventual reveal as a scoundrel comes late in the second human action , pass to the now - famous scene where she tortures Bond with a garrote while look utterly sensational in a gray Ungaro see - through bodice and lilac Versace skirt . Elektra is the avatar of what the Bond Girl should be : beautiful , always made up , absolutely unflawed , and dangerously lethal — someone who can excruciate and fire a gun while show off stiletto and a full typeface of makeup . Elektra runs and mount interminable flights of steps in heels ; it ’s whole farcical , even by ’ XC standards , but Marceau sells the snake pit out of it , and one ca n’t help but give in to her spell .
Elektra ’s motives and compass point of scene are further explored inThe World Is Not Enough‘s dramatic theme song courtesy of rock candy band Garbage . The eponymous orchestral rock melody is performed with ho-hum allurement by vocalist Shirley Manson and peck with theme of seduction and ambition . “ There ’s no point in life if you ca n’t feel alive , ” blab out Manson as the anthemic orchestral arrangement plays in the background . Composer David Arnold describedit as “ a sword clenched fist in a velvet baseball mitt , ” which is also a unadulterated verbal description of Elektra King .
King represented many showtime in Bond . distaff baddie are few and far between in the serial . Usually , the distaff antagonist plays 2d violin to the manful villain — think Famke Janssen ’s Xenia Onatopp or Rosamund Pike ’s Miranda Frost . Indeed , in Bond ’s 60 - plus - year history , there have only been two main female villain : Lotte Lenya ’s Rosa Klebb in Bond ’s second outing , From Russia with Loveand Marceau ’s Elektra King 36 years afterwards . Since Elektra , there has not been another main female Bond villain . And what a pity because both Rosa Klebb and Elektra King are among Bond ’s most iconic and memorable baddie , well outshine the average Bond bad guy . Do you genuinely call back General Georgi Koskov ? Exactly .
Ready and yet unprepared
IsThe World Is Not Enougha good Bond movie ? Well , it ’s acampyBond motion picture , the variety that would ’ve excelled in the Roger Moore geological era before he descended into self - parody . Yet , its flaw are too big and noticeable for me to confidently call it “ safe ” ; so unsound it ’s ripe is more on the nozzle . Marceau can only do so much , and believe me , she does a slew .
If I had to describeThe World Is Not Enoughin one word , it would be “ confused . ” It has something of an indistinguishability crisis , wanting to be fun and airheaded , yet feeling oblige to deliver the sort of bombastic - than - lifespan spectacle expected of both the Bond serial publication and the average late-1990s action romp . It thinks too highly of itself to give in to the absurdness , but has too tactless of a screenplay and too amateurish of a direction to deplume its ambitiousness off . The serious way to watchThe World Is Not Enoughis through rose - tinted glasses .
Come for Brosnan ’s charm , Richards ’ unintentional humour , Carlyle ’s scenery - masticate baddie , and Marceau ’s spectacular villainess . descend for the nonstop action and by chance mirthful setpieces . issue forth for the cringeworthy dialogue ( how many times does Christmas add up a yr ? ) and the excess of it all . The mankind is not enough , and neither is this movie , but you eff what ? It is a pretty good blank space to start , my love .
The World Is Not Enoughis useable tostream on PlutoTV .
