Z/Web

Author: Bruce Feirstein and Michael France

Director: Michael Apted

Unlike the lackluster last Bond outing (1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies), this James Bond is excellent. The opening action sequence — a speedboat chase the previews made seem routine — is actually exciting. Other action sequences aren’t as good (the skiing one is quite routine), but there are many of them, and most are mercifully quick (though a few drag on too long). What’s most unusual about this Bond is that the villan isn’t revealed until later in the movie. This is a good villian, too. As any Bond fanatic knows, a Bond film is only as good as its villan. The plot itself is so complicated is drags the story a bit. In fact, there were a number of key plot points that occurred before the movie started, meaning we’re told about them retroactively, a poor method for revealing critical details. But since this is a Bond film, plot is almost irrelevant — you know it’s a diabolical scheme to rule the world and Bond’s going to stop it, and in the end, that’s all that matters. The fun is in the journey, and watching the suave Bond wiggle his way out of impossible deathtraps with a martini in his hand and narry a spot on his tuxedo. Acting? Well, Bond films aren’t acting powerhouses, but Pierce Brosnan does an excellent job, bringing a bit of depth and complexity to his Bond. He’s better than the plot, in most cases. What I like about Brosnan is that he has a ruggedness about him that fits Bond exactly, he’s a decent actor, and he can deliver witty lines without turning the whole movie into cornball. This film brings back the Bond tradition of lots of innuendo and dreadful puns, but it doesn’t turn into a cartoon Bond like many of the 70’s films. As for the Bond women, Sophia Marceau was excellent, but I can’t say the same for poor Denise Richards as a nuclear scientist. Let’s just say she’d make an excellent store mannequin. She was fine eye candy… as long she didn’t speak. Overall, an excellent follow-up to Goldeneye.