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Pierce Brosnan’s third Bond film is on par with his previous two. In The World is Not Enough, Bond is protecting an oil baroness (Braveheart‘s Sophie Marceau) from a terrorist (Trainspotting‘s Robert Carlyle) who’s about to come into possession of nuclear weapons unless Bond can stop him. The film is distinguished by three remarkable action set-pieces, including a pre-credits boat chase through London, a ski battle against flying snowmobiles, and the elaborate destruction of a warehouse by a helicopter carrying monstrous cutting blades. The film’s climactic submarine battle pales in comparison, but, hey, they can’t all be winners, can they?
Sophie Marceau is one of the most captivating ‘Bond girls’ in the series, given enough agency and screen time to leave a lasting impression. A secondary Bond girl is played by Denise Richards (Starship Troopers). The name of her nuclear physicist character, Dr. Christmas Jones, provides some pretty good jokes in the film’s finale, but Richards also proves to be more than a pretty face. She brings a nice, casual sense of humor to the proceedings. Judi Dench is reliably commanding as M, and is given slightly more screen time than usual. John Cleese makes his debut as ‘R’, replacing Bond’s cantankerous quartermaster ‘Q’, Desmond Llewelyn, in his final screen performance. The only cast member short-changed by the script is Robert Carlyle, a fine actor with an anemic character — one of the franchise’s weaker villains.
The World is Not Enough veers a little more into silly Roger Moore-era antics, but never so much as to deflate the tension or diminish the stakes. The film, directed by the versatile Michael Apted (Coal Miner’s Daughter, Thunderheart), doesn’t break any molds, but it also doesn’t tarnish the franchise’s late-90s renaissance.
With Robbie Coltrane, Samantha Bond, and an underwhelming title song performed by Garbage.