In GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan made his debut as James Bond and we all knew that 'James Bond Will Return'. But what we didn't know was that James would be back and he would be better. Tomorrow Never Dies is the successor to GoldenEye and to state it quite frankly, surpasses it in every category available. Pierce Brosnan plays James Bond far better than he did in GoldenEye. He seems much more comfortable with the role.

There is a lot that is good about Tomorrow Never Dies. The plot is a little bit far-fetched but it does make for some entertaining viewing. Eliot Carver is a media Mogul who uses his power of the media to manipulate things and events. Carver is trying to increase his business by creating catastrophic events and then use his own newspaper, Tomorrow, to cover the events. I thought Carver's character was fairly well done but I do not think that it measures up to some of the enemies of the past. Enemies such as Francisco Scaramanga, Carl Stromberg, Alec Trevelyan, and certainly Ernst Blofeld.

A communications satellite, owned by Carver and modified by Gupta, signals a Royal Navy frigate off course and into Chinese territorial waters. The crews of the ship and Chinese fighter planes negotiate their way out of a diplomatic incident - until Carver's futuristic Stealth ship, invisible to radar, glides into view. Armageddon-inciting malarkey ensues as the two Chinese MiGs are shot down by the Stealth ship and The music by David Arnold is by far the best since John Barry and Bill Conti. Eric Serra's score was somewhat of a disappointment to many Bond fans but Arnold was well recieved by all and it is pretty much assured that Arnold will be back to write the music for the next Bond film.

The Bond girls in this film are pretty good. I thought Teri Hatcher and Michelle Yeoh were good additions to the film but they were not as appealing as the women of GoldenEye.

As for its locations, Tomorrow Never Dies does quite well. Hamburg, Germany and the Far East set the movie quite beautifully. The scene with Bond and Wai Lin in the South China seas is very reminiscent of the location for The Man With the Golden Gun. In many ways, this film is a throwback to some earlier Bond films. This film is very enjoyable and clearly shows that the James Bond franchise has been fully renewed and will continue to flourish. With the mix of yesterday and today, Tomorrow Never Dies will never die.

Overall Rating: B+

James Bond Will Return in The World is Not Enough