Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Denise Richards, Sophie Marceau, Robert Carlyle, Robbie Coltrane, Judi Dench, Desmond Llewelyn, John Cleese, Samantha Bond

Directed by Michael Apted

Based on the Character Created by Ian Fleming

Run Time: 128 min
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure
Release Date: November 8, 1999

Rotten Tomatoes Score:

My Score: 8 out of 10

Synopsis:

James Bond (Brosnan) is assigned to protect Elektra King (Marceau) after her father is murdered and MI6 suspects that it is Renard (Carlyle) who kidnapped Elektra years ago, and fear that he will next target Elektra. Bond goes on his mission, but discovers that Renard is after a nuclear warhead and teams up with Dr. Christmas Jones (Richards) to prevent Renard from detonating the warhead while keeping tabs on Elektra.

Review:

A great Bond film, got all the qualities that make a Bond film.

First off, Pierce Brosnan is incredibly enjoyable as Bond and has all the style that is required of Bond. And he brings back the Bond adventure which is always loved by audiences.

This time around, we are treated to two Bond Girls!! Two!! You know they are maximizing the formula when… The more prominent Bond Girl is Dr. Christmas Jones, which has one of those funny Bond Girl names that allows for jokes to fly off of Bond’s tongue, who is enjoyable and easily a good Bond Girl. The other Bond Girl is Elektra King, who is not your typical Bond Girl, but adds greatly to the plot of the film in a nice way, making the film more.

And the Bond Villain, Renard, has the unique quality of a Bond Villain that says, this is a Bond film. This is great as some of the ones before it didn’t have that quality in their villains which makes the Bond films more enjoyable  And Renard’s unique quality of having a bullet going to his brain and eventually killing him, made him feel nothing and be the ultimate terrorist as he was willing to die for his cause just to prove his point. 

The plot of this Bond is okay. It starts off with very little knowledge but gradually expands to the full plot as the film progresses which allows for the big finale. It gets better by the end when you have the full picture as you can follow what is happening in terms of the overall plot unlike at the beginning where everything seems to have a purpose but you don’t know what it is so you are not aware of what you should be focusing on. Creative, but it does have its pitfalls. But the movie starts with the bang and slows down and finishes with a bang again, which is typical Bond formula but it works for this Bond film as sometimes the formula cannot be applied properly. And of course we get the special Bond action sequences, but by this point we have seen most of them already so they are just enjoyable but nothing new or shocking.

This Bond marks Desmond Llewelyn’s last appearance as Q, which is sad as he died shortly after the filming of this Bond, but we are introduced to the new Q portrayed by John Cleese and although he may not be the same style as his predecessor, he definitely brings the laughs that are required of his character and is a welcomed addition to the Bond films.

Final Thoughts: 

A fun Bond that delivers all of the formulaic parts of a Bond film and all the action, making it a very fun action film to enjoy over and over!