Skip to main content

The World Is Not Enough



With a slightly typical but nonetheless immensely entertaining opening sequence, The World Is Not Enough promises to adhere to Bond formula from the very start. And adhere to formula it does. However, it does manage to stay entertaining enough, and just barely unique enough that it holds your attention.

As the film goes on, it seems to become more and more unremarkable. Brosnan’s Bond films were never known for their originality, and this one is certainly no exception. The plot is typical, the villain is rather typical, and the quips and puns follow in regular fashion. Ultimately, it just feels like everything we’ve seen before. So am I saying I hated it? No, surprisingly enough. (Spoilers will follow, for those of you who haven’t seen the movie.)

The film manages to stay afloat, largely due to the charisma of Brosnan in the starring role. Additionally, Elektra being a villain was something rather new, especially to the Bond franchise. The main villain’s motivations were a bit more grounded this time around, even if he himself was rather cliché. The action is very well done, and still holds up, even by today’s standards. And now we come to the performances. Pierce Brosnan, as always, plays Bond to perfection. Sophie Marceau does a perfectly acceptable job of playing Elektra. And while Denise Richards certainly doesn’t give an Oscar-worthy performance as Christmas Jones, I didn’t find myself regularly cringing whenever she was on screen. I seem to be the only person who wasn’t, however, so perhaps I just missed something. The score, composed by David Arnold, is good, but certainly not his best.


So, what’s the final consensus? To me, the film was simply unremarkable, and I think that’s mostly how it’s remembered. While it’s not an absolute train wreck of a movie, it feels like the writers phoned this one in. Nearly everything in it is something we’ve seen before, and the unique parts about it seem to get lost in all of the clichés. It’s nearly 100% formula, pure and simple. If that’s what you want from a Bond film, then this is the one for you. If you want originality, that’s here in small quantities, and may ultimately make the movie worth watching for you. So, do I recommend it? Sure. It’s not the best Bond movie, or even remotely close to being such, or even one of the better action movies in (somewhat) recent memory. But if you’re in the mood for a formulaic Bond movie, or just want to have a fun time, give it a shot. You might like it. I’m giving it 3 out of 5 stars.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Revenge of the Sith Review

I’m sure you’ve probably heard that Revenge of the Sith is just slightly better than The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. In my opinion, that is completely untrue. Revenge of the Sith is a masterpiece. Let me explain why I think so. First of all, the plot here is just so much better. Even the dialogue is greatly improved. It’s still not perfect, but it’s only cringe-worthy in a few scenes. That in and of itself is a huge improvement. Secondly, George Lucas has the power of his own legendary original trilogy behind him this time. Finally, we get to witness Anakin become Darth Vader. And it’s glorious. We finally get a little bit of believability when it comes to why Anakin turned to the dark side. This time, it’s not just because he was an arrogant brat. We’re finally able to believe that he was pushed over the edge. On a technical level, everything is flawless, and the CGI still looks incredible today. The acting is far better this time around, and Hayden Christensen i...

Tomorrow Never Dies

Tomorrow Never Dies boasts what may be the most absurd plot of any Bond film. The head of a media outlet tries to start wars in order to have a monopoly on the media coverage of them. If you can’t comprehend the absurdity of that, let me try to give another example. CNN starts World War 3 and has journalists in place to report these events before anyone else can, and no one on the face of the earth thinks that’s shady in any way, shape, or form except for MI6. The question we should all be asking ourselves is how the heck this movie managed to actually be kind of good with a plot like this. The opening sequence is not quite as exhilarating as we’ve come to expect from Brosnan Bond movies, but it’s competent enough. From there, we’re plunged directly into the story. The first act takes its time, explaining delicately in a detailed manner exactly what the media mogul’s plan is, and how he’s going to carry it out. His plot may be absolu...

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man: Homecoming is the Spider-Man film that should never have succeeded. Reboot after reboot finally gave us a Spider-Man series we can safely trust will be consistently good. I’m going to touch on a few plot points, but no spoilers. Picking up in fresh territory, after the apparent death of Uncle Ben, Homecoming takes us down a thematic path we’ve never seen before. Gone is the dark brooding, the constant crying, and the cheesiness. Instead, we’re confronted with comedy, plot twists, and heart in (mostly) all of the right places. Homecoming could really only be rightfully classified as an action-comedy or comedy-action. There are probably more jokes than punches thrown, now that I think about it. And yet the comedy is miraculously far-removed from the cringe-worthy quips found in most Marvel movies. It’s genuinely, consistently, and thoroughly hilarious. Another fresh element is Peter’s relationship with Aunt May. Gone is...