Review of The World Is Not Enough (1999) by Nathan M — 18 Mar 2012

Although not leaps and bounds beyond Tomorrow Never Dies, the cheese is slightly less toxic here. A more grounded plot, running off of additional fumes from the Cold War, and slight innovations, such as the first female Bond villain help make Apted's go at 007 a more satisfying overall experience, despite the traditional screenplay problems.

After the game-modifying decisions of the previous films (female M, media villain), the film returns to more comfortable Cold War territory (both plot and geographic), while simultaneously advancing the unprecedented female villain.

These decisions, plus the improvement in Brosnan's one-liners help make it less scoff worthy than TND. John Cleese is also an entertaining addition, as R, Q's successor. In the action department, there seems to be less shooting and explosions than in TND, making each blow slightly more valuable.

However, Denise Richards and her nuclear "knowledge" are among the most boneheaded pieces of the entire franchise and Elektra King, the aforementioned female villain's motivations are terribly cliched and only interesting as they're being commanded by a female.

While still in the lower echelon of Bond films, the writers having a greater handle on the subject matter and more masterful action-craft overall make for a more propulsive and less exhausting experience than TND.