Beginner’s Bond: The World Is Not Enough
The “Beginner’s Bond” posts tell the tale of my quest to close the biggest gap in my personal cinematic history: the James Bond franchise. I am watching all of the movies in order (mostly) for the first time, and sharing my reactions here. Pierce Brosnan has been killing it as 007, with GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies both being classic espionage thrills dressed up for the modern age. Is it even possible for 1999’s The World Is Not Enough to top that?
Not quite.
The world’s greatest secret agent is sent to retrieve a briefcase full of cash that was lost by a British oil tycoon who just happens to be old friends with M, which is an egregious abuse of state resources, but the movie must go on. The briefcase turns out to be a cleverly concealed bomb, and 007 has just delivered that gentleman his death. As such, his professional pride demands he kill those responsible. The trail leads him to Renard, a former KGB agent turned terrorist for hire. He has a bullet lodged in his skull from MI6’s previous attempt on his life. Although the bullet is slowly killing him, it has also negated his ability to feel pain. As a doctor explains, he will become stronger every day until he dies. The day he took that shot to the head, Renard was holding the tycoon’s daughter, Elektra King, for ransom. Fearing history might repeat itself, M tasks Bond with protecting Elektra. This inevitably leads to Ski Chase Number Six for the James Bond series as our heroes flee down a frosty mountain with heavily-armed snowmobiles in pursuit.
Elektra does a lot of very suspicious shit, like dropping a million dollars on a high card draw in a Russian gangster’s casino. Bond eventually discovers that she didn’t escape Renard all those years ago—she joined him. She’s actually his boss now, the architect of a terrorist plot on a far grander scale than Renard could have ever imagined on his own. They’re going to use a stolen nuclear submarine as a bomb to wipe out her main competitor’s pipelines; all of this sabotage is disguised as a singular hateful act by a random group of rogues. The series does not do plot twists often, and rarely well when it does, but this one was surprisingly effective. While there have been a few Bond girls who worked for the bad guys, Elektra is the first to also be the main villain.
Renard sounds like he would be a formidable henchman based on how all the other characters talk about him. But other than a theatrical demonstration at the beginning of the movie, his inability to feel pain doesn’t seem to provide him with any noticeable advantage. Renard doesn’t absorb damage with a stone face. He grimaces in what looks like pain and goes down when 007 punches him. Everyone says he’s super strong, but he never lifts anything particularly heavy or knocks anyone across a room.
Renard is just the most visible symptom of the biggest problem in The World Is Not Enough. This movie commits the cardinal sin of screenwriting: it does a lot of telling without an adequate amount of showing. There is no evidence of the impressive abilities other characters attribute to him. The film also tries to distinguish itself by giving James Bond a persistent injury, which I believe would be a first for the series. However, that injury only exists on paper that is literally discarded. The only potential problem posed by Bond’s injury is the possibility that he will not be declared medically fit for duty, an obstacle that evaporates the instant it’s revealed that the doctor examining him is a pretty woman. So James Bond goes into the field physically weakened—that could add an interesting layer to the story. But the effect is mostly cosmetic. For the rest of the movie, 007 will grimace and moan every time something twigs his hurt shoulder, and that’s about as bad as it gets. The pain never stops him from doing anything and his shoulder never gives out on him, so Mr. Bond may as well not be injured for all the difference it makes to the movie.
The World Is Not Enough has some fun action set pieces, but it simply can’t compete with its predecessors. It’s slower paced, less propulsive, the excitement is drip fed rather than gushing from the screen. This movie is neither good nor terrible enough to be memorable. The first disappointing miss for Pierce Brosnan’s Bond, but maybe he can bring it back for his last round in the tux: 2002’s Die Another Day.
