Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) Review

 "There's no news like bad news."
-Elliot Carver



Media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) is determined to provoke a war between Great Britain and China.  James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is sent to investigate Carver and stop war from breaking out.  To make matters more complicated, the Chinese government has sent in an agent of their own and Carver's wife is Bond's ex-girlfriend.


What Works:

We've seen Bond movies before where the villain is trying to provoke two different countries into war.  That's pretty much a staple of the series at this point.  What's interesting is the reason why.  Carver is doing this to expand his media empire and basically sell more newspapers.  That's by far the most interesting reasoning for this type of Bond villain and it's actually would be kinda hilarious if it didn't hit so close to reality.

Jonathan Pryce is an excellent Bond villain and one of the most cartoony of the series.  He's having a blast every moment he's on screen and brings a real larger-than-life persona to the character.  He may not be the most complex, but he's a lot of fun and very unique.

Michelle Yeoh is an excellent Bond girl because she's just as competent as Bond.  She's smart and very capable.  She even gets an action scene pretty much all to herself.  I always love when the Bond girl can show up Bond a bit and that happens a few times here.  They are a fun pair to have together.

Finally, the action is really fun and there are quite a few creative action beats.  The ejector seat kill in the opening sequence is one of my favorites and there are plenty of awesome moments on the stealth ship.  Best of all is the motorcycle chase through Vietnam.  It's really badass with some insane and impressive stunts.


What Sucks:

One of Carver's assassins is a guy called Dr. Kaufman (Vincent Schiavelli).  He's a very unique character with an interesting voice and mannerisms.  He would have been a really fun villain to have around for most of the movie as I really like his performance.  Unfortunately, he only has one scene to chew the scenery on before being killed by Bond.  It's a shame and a waste of a good character.

Finally, the dialogue isn't great in this movie.  I attribute this to the script not being done before production started.  Some of the dialogue is overly cheesy and some of it is far too exposition heavy and obvious.  It doesn't always treat the audience as intelligent.


Verdict:

Tomorrow Never Dies is a pretty average Bond movie.  It's got solid action, a competent Bond girl, and a really fun villain.  The dialogue is poor at times and one of the henchman could have used far more screen-time, but this 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. Thunderball

#15. You Only Live Twice

#16. A View to a Kill

#17. The Man with the Golden Gun

#18. Diamonds Are Forever    

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