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The World Is Not Enough
Directed By Michael Apted
The World is not Enough, the 20th installment of the James Bond franchise, scores high in Bond's favorite ingredients but fails because of a lame plot and poor acting.
In The World is not Enough, there are undoubtedly high adrenaline action scenes and a plethora of cool gadgets, while Bond is in great shape. Pierce Brosnan is more comfortable in the role than ever, and ranks himself just under Sean Connery in terms of Bond interpretation. He is at the same time cool, ruthless and feline, in the vein of the early installments of the series with Connery, but also shows vulnerability. And that's what makes him more enjoyable than the too polished, civilized and cartoonesque Roger Moore who brought to the role his Saint & Persuaders dimensions (by politeness we won't mention the sinister Timothy Dalton and the always forgettable George Lazemby). Brosnan does a good job and so do French actress Sophie Marceau and a funny gadget-master played by John Cleese.
The movie provides also a lot of enjoyable classic sequences, particularly in its opening scene with a boat chase on London's River Thame. The scene recycles for the better the overly long boat chase from the tedious Live & Let Die as well as chases typical from the Moore period (Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only..). Another scene combines a ski chase and small reminder of You Only Live Twice, while the BMW with its rocket launcher can be compared Moore's car in The Spy Who Loved Me. Obviously The World is not Enough recycles a lot to fullfill fans' expectations, but isn't any James Bond flick recycling the precedents anyway?
However, the movie has some unforgivable biases in terms of miscasting and plot. The first one is in front of the poster and is named Denise Richards. If she is here to appeal to the American teenager audience (as well as the Garbage song, she totally ruins the film, her acting being so poor it becomes ridiculous each time she is on screen (fortunatly she only appears in the second half) and the fact that she plays a scientist adds to the disaster. Now Tanya Roberts of the overly tired A View to a Kill has some serious competition!! The second miscast is Robert Carlyle who, as an excellent comedic actor, is here as frightening a vilain as Carrot Top would be. And when the vilain is lame, the movie cannot work since Bond cannot be rivaled by his enemy. Finally, the plot (if there is one) can only reflect the laziness of a screenwriter who had no idea how to justify the conspiracy at the center of the film. Not that a Bond flick requires some masterminded plot (and it never did) but a minimum of respect for the spectator would make the spectacle more enjoyable.
With a solid first half and a lame second half, The World is not Enough will make you wait for a better follower. However it provides enough fun to rank it well above Tomorrow Never Dies, Dalton's 2 flicks and the latest Moore.
One thing is sure: The Work is not Enough
Fred Thom
 Die Another Day
Shaken & Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project
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The World Is Not Enough review
