# World Is Not Enough, The (1999)

### reviewed by
Steve Rhodes

    THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
    A film review by Steve Rhodes
    Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes
    RATING (0 TO ****):  ***

Some movies shoot for the moon. Others wallow in the dirt. Bond films, on the other hand, have modest, simple aspirations. They are happy just to provide solid entertainment value. And by that metric, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, directed by 42 UP's Michael Apted, does exactly what it sets out to do. Pierce Brosnan in his best film yet as James Bond, proves once again that he's the best Bond since Sean Connery.

The most important costars in the Bond movies are the spy's toys. These films usually have the audience applauding for the stunts, and this episode of the superspy saga is no different.

The best of the bunch in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH is a sleek, one-man, black boat complete with jet afterburners, which looks like something custom-made for Batman. The vehicle even has the ability to dive underwater briefly while the driver holds his breath. It can turn into a car as well, all the better to engage in a typical Bond demolition derby.

The plot, not that it's important, involves competing oil pipelines and stolen plutonium. "If there's the slightest chance, Bond will succeed," his boss, M (Judi Dench), reassures us. The outcome of a Bond movie is never in question, but who cares? That's not why we're here. We come to have fun and enjoy the action, like the helicopter with a supersized chainsaw attached, which cuts through cars and buildings.

Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) is a recently kidnapped daughter of a wealthy oil magnate who's building a large oil pipeline in competition with 3 other Russian ones. Sophie Marceau, who possesses the eternal beauty of a lush oil painting, has a knack, as she showed in FIRELIGHT, for appearing hopelessly vulnerable while being anything but. Bond films always feature beautiful women, and the two this time are among the best of the Bond babes.

Besides Marceau, the sexually charged Denise Richards (WILD THINGS) plays Dr. Christmas Jones, a nuclear physicist with explosive good looks. First seen in a tight fitting tank top and brief shorts, she makes science look pretty exciting. Under Apted's direction, both of the women hold their own against the world's best spy. King is deceptively alluring, and Jones is young and cocky. "You want to put that into English for those of us who don't speak spy?" Jones mocks Bond at one point.

After an injury, Bond seduces M5's female doctor in order to be declared fit for service. "He has remarkable stamina," her report concludes. The movie is rife with such double-entendres, which delight the older members of the audience while going right over the heads of the younger.

In a cameo John Cleese plays R, the replacement that Q's been training. R goes over all of the bells, whistles and guns in Bond's latest spymobile. This one, R tells him, even has 6 cup holders.

The funny script by Bruce Feirstein, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade is filled with puns and clever little jokes. "I see you put your money where your mouth is," Bond ridicules a slimy, hired gunman with a mouth full of shiny, gold teeth.

Bond movies don't really have messages. They're happy just to amuse us, which this one does in spades with its great stunts, funny dialog and crisp acting. On the other hand, if we want to go looking for a message, Bond himself says it best. Stunningly handsome, lying in bed next to the equally beautiful King, he tells her, "I take pleasure in great beauty." Now that's something with which viewers of either sex can identify.

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH runs 2:08. It is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, some sexuality and innuendo and would be acceptable for kids around 10 or 11 and up.

My son Jeffrey, age 10, who has seen all but 2 of the Bond films, loved this one, giving it ****. He especially liked the battles and the boat/sub/car. His friends, ages 10 and 11, with him mentioned the same things, and had similar ratings -- Steven ****, Nickolas ****, John *** 1/2 and Alan ***. Alan and John complained that there was too much sleeping around. (There is no sex or nudity in the film, and the women are strategically covered by the bedcovers.)

Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com

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