review by Orlando C. Fernando
November 30, 1999
Storyline: 5 (0=worst, 10=best)
Originality: 4
Acting: 7
Special Effects: 6
Overall: B (F=worst, A=best)
James Bond is back for another spy caper.
In this installment of the highly successful Bond series, James' boss
M's good friend is killed while trying to build a major competitive oil pipeline
system in the Middle East. The deceased's daughter is believed to be the next
target, as she had previously been kidnapped but managed to escape her captor.
Bond is asked to monitor but not get involved with the daughter while trying
to seek the killer. Bond goes on location from Spain to the Middle East, chasing
or dodging the odd bad guy here and there. He finally winds up in the middle
east and teams up with a doctor Christmas Jones (Denise Richards) to get to
the bottom of the sabotages and interests in plutonium.
The action is a stop and go here.
The speedboat chase is certainly the best action of this movie. And it
does not even involve one of the major villians! Bond also takes to the ski
slopes, but it was done better in one of Sean Connery's attempts of the yesteryear
Bonds. One of the most intriguing vehicles, an air cutter, does however make
for some neat slicing mayhem later in the film.
John Cleese. Is he here? Yes he is!
For better or worse remains to be seen in future Bond films as he is grossly
underused in this film, resorting to mainly one-liner jokes. He is "R",
the successor to "Q". The current spy gadget-creating veteran of over
15 years will be retiring.
Sophie Marceau and Denise Richards serve
satisfactorily as Bond girls.
More of the sex appeal goes to Sophie, however, which is suitable to
accentuate Bond's weakness for damsels during a mission. Denise's role is more
focused as she is pretty much no-nonsense at her job.
Overall, It ranks a little better than mediocre
of Pierce Brosnan's Bond episodes.
"Goldeneye" still ranks at the top for such an involving storyline
and more interesting villians and villianesses (anyone remember Onatopp?). M's
increased movie time in this installment, along with the return of Rob Coltraine
as Valentin (yes!) give it a few notches above the forgettable "Tomorrow
Never Dies". It is worth either movie admission or video rental, but probably
not a keeper for your Bond collection.
Copyright 2001 by Orlando C. Fernando.
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