A friend of mine from California suggested I post a review of this movie here since it doesn't open in the States until Friday. Speaking as a devoted movie buff and avid 007 fan - don't hold your breath!
Advance publicity hadn't exactly won me over with listening to the Sheryl Crowe single on Capital Radio for the last 2 weeks. Perhaps, I thought, it will seem better when accompanied by the visuals of the opening credit sequence. Oh dear! An entertaining enough pre-credit action sequence leads into the worst opening titles of the entire Bond series - accompanied by a very indifferent title track. And somehow that just set the tone.
A potentially imaginative idea about having a media mogul as the villain of the piece is completely wasted by a wafer-thin story line involving a stealth ship (Oh pleeaase!!!!), some GPS satelite technology and World War 3. Jonathan Pryce struts around as the mogul looking, for the most part, not very menacing at all. His sidekick is a blond German guy who looks as though he's just stepped off the set of a Die Hard movie.
The film does have some redeeming features. As usual there are some neat stunts and some exciting action sequences - the best involving cars and bikes. The BMW 750 easily steals the show for best gadget and best action sequence and is definitely the high point of the movie. Pierce Brosnan puts in another solid performance. Judi Dench as 'M' delivers the one and only decent one-liner at the expense of a certain deceased media mogul.
There are 2 Bond girls. The first is played by Teri Hatcher (Lois Lane from The New Adventures Of Superman) - looks great but never gets a chance to do much other than shrug off her dress. The second is Michelle Yeoh as a Chinese secret agent - cue lots of martial arts action stuff which is also entertaining. Also gets the most gratuitous moment in the movie when she stands under a shower in a white top. Titillating yes, but not exactly Bond's style.
Even the exotic locations seem wasted. The Vietnam stuff with the bike chase is probably the best. Kowloon is woefully under-used - sailing around all those tiny little islands looking far more romantic in The Man With The Golden Gun.
Bond films are never a complete waste - the production values are generally high enough to see to that - but this one certainly won't be a DVD purchase. (Incidentally the bass on this soundtrack is even stronger than Goldeneye).
Rates about a 5 out of 10 and comes as a great disappointment after Goldeneye. Makes you wonder whether this is a sign of things to come now that Cubby is no longer at the helm!
Nigel
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