The World is Not Enough (1999) Review

 "There's no point in living if you can't feel alive."
-Elektra King



A bomb is set off in MI6, which kills a friend of M's (Judi Dench).  The deceased's daughter, Elektra (Sophie Marceau), appears to be the next target and James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is sent to protect her.  It turns out, the terrorist is an old an enemy of M's, Renard (Robert Carlyle), a man who can feel no pain.


What Works:

The best part of this movie is definitely Sophie Marceau's performance as Elektra.  She's one of the most dynamic characters in the run of the series and makes the movie worth rewatching.  She and Brosnan have great chemistry and she elevates every part of the movie she's in.

The action is also solid, as per usual.  Boat chases are very hard to make interesting, but The World is Not Enough gives us the best one of the series and Brosnan's signature moment as he adjusts his tie underwater.  The ski chase and the fight on the submarine are both very good as well.  I especially love the helicopter battle at the caviar factory.  The helicopters with buzzsaws attached to them were a stroke of genius and make for a fun and inventive sequence.

M gets the most any M has ever had to do up to this point in the series.  This is a very personal mission for her and it works so well, they pretty much bring back the plot beat for beat in Skyfall.  We've had personal missions for Bond before, but this is something different, and it makes the scenes involving M with Renard and Elektra very interesting.

The filmmakers were very wise to bring back Valentin Zukovsky in an expanded role.  Robbie Coltrane did a great job in Goldeneye even if he could have been cut from the movie completely.  Here, he and Brosnan have excellent chemistry and I love every scene he is in.  He's funny, relevant to the plot, and gets a badass send-off.

Finally, this is Desmond Llewelyn's last performance as Q.  The character retires from MI6 during the movie and the actor died in real life shortly after the premiere.  The final scene with Q is emotional, even for Bond, as he retires, but it becomes a lot more impactful with knowledge of Llewelyn's untimely demise.  It's one of the most impactful scenes of the series.


What Sucks:

Let's get to the elephant in the room.  This is the movie that has Denise Richards playing a nuclear scientist.  It's infamously bad casting for a reason.  I will say, Richards isn't as bad as a few previous Bond girls because she isn't annoying.  She doesn't do much to help, but she doesn't just scream and make things worse.  She's just kinda there.  The problem really is that she isn't believable in the role.  I just can't buy her when she's having discussions about nuclear bombs.  It's too bad because I've liked Richards in other roles, but she was woefully miscast here.

Finally, we have our main villain, Renard.  A man who can feel no pain with a personal grudge against M and MI6.  That has the makings of an excellent villain.  Unfortunately, the movie doesn't do enough with him.  The fact that he can't feel anything doesn't end up mattering at all.  It's a waste of a interesting idea, especially because Bond is injured throughout the entire movie.  Having a complete mismatch in the end with Bond only winning because he is cleverer than Renard would have been great.  


Verdict:

I actually like this movie more on this rewatch than I have in the past, even if it still is my least favorite of the Brosnan films.  The action is solid, M and Zukovsky getting expanded roles is brilliant, Q's last scene is emotional, and Marceau does a phenomenal job, but Renard is underused and Denise Richards was not the right person for the role.  Overall, the movie has still got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good 


#1. Octopussy

#2. The Spy Who Loved Me

#3. From Russia with Love

#4. Goldfinger

#5. Goldeneye

#6. The Living Daylights

#7. Moonraker

#8. On Her Majesty's Secret Service

#9. License to Kill

#10 Tomorrow Never Dies

#11. Live and Let Die

#12. Dr. No

#13. For Your Eyes Only

#14. The World is Not Enough

#15. Thunderball

#16. You Only Live Twice

#17. A View to a Kill

#18. The Man with the Golden Gun

#19. Diamonds Are Forever    


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