Review of Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) by Jeff B — 22 Feb 2016

Despite painting the super-spy into an oftentimes boring corner, Brosnan's second Bond outing at least boasts pulse-pounding action set pieces that never say die. Okay, so the 18th 007 adventure fails to put forth the most ambitious story but the dust-ups that result boast enough explosive awesomeness to warrant your full attention. Take for example one ridiculously exciting bit of staging that results in a BMW motorcycle jumping over the rotating blades of a chopper hovering between rooftops. It's winning moments like this, however, that punctuate a largely connect-the-dots tale where even an ace actor like Pryce can't make spiked lemonade out of a lemon of a villain that's so dull on paper.

In this PG-rated spy thriller, James Bond (Brosnan) heads to stop a media mogul's (Pryce) plan to induce war between China and the UK in order to obtain exclusive global media coverage.

Brosnan has his shtick down pat by Tomorrow Never Dies, which is good and bad. Connery and (later) Craig got better as they went along, which enhanced sometimes sub-standard material. The actor formerly known as Remington Steel by this point in his career, however, seems to operate on charismatic auto-pilot. Being only as good as your material only works insofar as the quality of the material and co-stars. Action aside, Michelle Yeoh as hard-hitting Chinese spy Wai Lin proves way more memorable than Bond's ex-girlfriend, played by Teri Hatcher, which is perfect summary as to the film' concentration on stylish over substantive. Sadly, the material behind his next such outing wouldn't have Brosnan's back nearly as much.

Bottom line: Sociopath Media.