Written by: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Bruce Feirstein
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Robert Carlyle, Sophie Marceau, Denise Richards, Robbie Coltrane
Rating: [2.5/5]
In the world of espionage, trust comes at a premium, with everyone earning their wage with their ability to manipulate and deceive others. That does not mean even the most seasoned in the fields cannot fall under the spell of another person. A reality set forth in another adventure of 007 in The World is Not Enough. An entry with its own charm but with a bloated story not driving nearly enough interest unless you count the unquenchable horniness of the protagonist.
After retrieving the rightful money of an oil tycoon, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) returns the cash but does not realize it was laced with explosive material that kills the man. Now trying to figure out who’s responsible for it, he gets sent to protect the deceased tycoon’s daughter, Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) as she becomes the target of a dangerous terrorist.
Tackling a review for a James Bond film outside those starring Daniel Craig presents quite the shift needing to be made. It comes with no question I entered watching this film with little to no knowledge about James Bond other than the gritty interconnected world built out for Craig’s Bond, meaning expectations needed to be shifted properly as to the different tone and approach these older ones would employ. While I certainly prefer what Craig’s Bond did and more importantly, the filmmakers who brought the works alive made this one a bit underwhelming even if it had fun elements. From what I’ve heard, the Brosnan entries into the 007 canon had much less seriousness to them in terms of tone, and The World is Not Enough did nothing to disprove of it.
In its structure we have the general idea of a Bond villain with a physical disfigurement, an axe to grind with the world, and we have this suave British spy out loaded with different gadgets tasked to stop them. In this instance we have Renard Zokas (Robert Carlyle), who previously kidnapped Elektra who operates as the main culprit for what 007 will have to take on, and he does just enough to serve as the stand-in for a Bond villain except for the little twist this story throws in. Not something necessarily groundbreaking, if not a bit predictable, but it combines into something somewhat interesting to experience as a villainous figure.
One thing remains clear as we shift from Daniel Craig to Pierce Brosnan is the horniness the man displays. The suaveness of Bond with women serves as one of the attributes that has made the man famous, but the degree captured in this film felt a bit silly at times. The fact he could persuade a doctor on payroll to clear him for action after sustaining an injury that should sideline him for some time really seeks to emphasize it. His method begins with simply pulling her in and to start disrobing her and she pretty much just goes along with it, showing that women are willing to throw away any ethics or belief system in order to have a sexual encounter with this man, which you have to respect.
As one can see by the poster, the feature presents two women who could possibly serve as the “Bond girl,” which includes the oil heiress Elektra, but we also get introduced to Denise Richards as Dr. Christmas Jones. A nuclear physicist with quite the name. Her presence definitely stands out, especially in the latter half of the film. Richards does her best with what the role provides in serving as both the eye candy and an asset for Bond as he navigates this particular mission. However, the greatest contribution, by far, comes from the very last scene and the final bit of dialogue of the film in which her name gets uttered in a manner that is frankly hilarious that makes it hard to dislike this film despite its obvious and many faults.
Even with that final line and the inherent silliness of the story, The World is Not Enough fails to captivate through its narrative where we have a paint-by-numbers villain and the twist does not necessarily do anything to move the needle. We get quite the take on Bond with Brosnan and one that mostly works despite the lackluster material he must operate with. Other than Bond’s brazen instances of seducing women not much of this film proves memorable where I had trouble remembering much right after rewatching it, which never bodes well.
Films with Josh 
