I'm not talking about the new female M (Dame Judi Dench, replacing the late Bernard Lee), or the younger Miss Moneypenny (Samantha Bond). After all, there needs to be a new M, and after the age of Thatcher, why not a woman in the job? And as for Miss Moneypenny, the original actress in the role (Lois Maxwell) is 70 years old and retired from the screen: a replacement was clearly necessary. On the other hand, Desmond Llewelyn, who plays Q, is pushing 90: he has been with the series for so long, when the time comes for him to go, replacing him will be much more difficult. When I spoke of changing elements from the series, however, I meant the introduction of the more "sensitive" Bond in GoldenEye, and in Tomorrow Never Dies, his teaming up with a partner equal to (and worthy of) him, for once.
In this one, Bond has found yet another grandiose villain who is prepared to take over the world. Well, sort of. Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) is a media baron who bears a striking resemblance to Rupert Murdoch. He is establishing a new worldwide television news network, and what better story to start it off with than an exclusive report about a Sino-British conflict that could escalate into war? To accomplish that, all he needs is a nuclear weapon, a "stealth ship," destroy a few planes and naval vessels.... Too bad Carver didn't see Wag the Dog. He could have simply faked a war with the help of Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro: it certainly would have been a lot cheaper and might have ultimately been more successful than his own plan turns out to be (It's no spoiler that he fails: this is a James Bond movie we're talking about here, Slim).
Anyway, Bond (Pierce Brosnan these days) is put on the case, partly because he is "acquainted," if you know what I mean, with Carver's wife, Paris (Teri Hatcher). His principal mission is to find out what is going on, and if necessary, start pumping for information (okay, no more innuendo, I promise).
Anyway, he discovers blah blah huge conspiracy blah blah unthinkable technological advancements blah blah. Discovered, shootout, betrayal, and so on. Bond discovers he is not the only secret agent on the case. Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) from China is also investigating Carter.
The scene shifts from Germany to Vietnam, where the two secret agents meet up again, are constantly running away from Carver's goons, and end up in a spectacular chase through the streets of Saigon. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you that the film will conclude in the villain's super double-secret fortress, that Bond will save the world just in time, and that he'll get the girl (or if there is more than one girl, the sexiest girl available). Unfortunately, this final act is nothing but conventional Bond: no fun surprises, nothing. Oh well, one can't expect everything in the series to change overnight.
Brosnan isn't the ideal James Bond, but I don't believe that such an animal exists. Jonathan Pryce is somewhat disappointing as the villain: he's all smirking, smiling evil, rather than an quiet, unreadable malignant force as he has been in some roles. It might have been more fun to see, for instance, Kevin Spacey doing a Ted Turner imitation, but that can't be helped now. Michelle Yeoh is a great partner for Bond, especially this particular Bond: she is small of stature but high of energy. Her martial arts attacks are top-notch, and she is thoroughly convincing in the motorcycle chase, more so than Brosnan, as she is shackled to Bond.
In smaller roles, Joe Don Baker makes a welcome reappearance as Wade, the world's most vulgar American, and the 90's equivalent of Felix Leiter. Gotz Otto is a good German heavy (someone sign him up for the Duke Nukem movie, quick!) and Ricky Jay characteristically plays a competent geek. The most pointless appearance is by Vincent Schiavelli in a comic relief role as a gunman. To everyone who complained about Brad Pitt's accent in Seven Years in Tibet: listen to Schiavelli and stop complaining. Now that's an awful German accent. There are so many instances of product placement in this movie, that it would take a blind and deaf moviegoer to miss them. Still, at least the products being hocked had some vague connection with the movie characters themselves, unlike the truly pointless products placed in George of the Jungle.
It has been rumored that Michelle Yeoh will return in future Bond pictures. While it may go against franchise tradition to give him a regular partner, I say go for it! She infused life into this sequel, which would certainly have been dreary without her. Perhaps director Spottiswoode should be given his walking papers, however. There was precious little tension in this film, even in some of the more interesting action scenes. Of course, action scenes should be exciting, not interesting. There has been a rumor that Martin Scorsese is being courted to helm the next (the 19th) Bond film. Now that is something to really look forward to.
Three stars
Copyright 1998 by Dale G. Abersold