Brosnan's second Bond film finds a return to the fun Bonds of a generation earlier, and therein lies its main drawback. An all-powerful media mogul is launching a brand new television news network, and decides to premiere with a bang by playing the Chinese against the British in the South China Sea.
Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is picked to investigate mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) thanks to the agent's prior relationship with Paris (Teri Hatcher), Carver's wife. Bond must also contend with Chinese agent Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh), who is investigating Carver for her own government and matches Bond punch for punch when it comes to taking care of herself.
Long considered a weak entry by fans, I found "Tomorrow Never Dies" to be an improvement over "GoldenEye." Despite a chaotic production, the finished project is a polished collection of impressive action sequences and interesting story, with a villain who could very much exist in today's world of internet billionaires and skewed journalists masquerading their personal opinions as fact. Things begin to unravel a bit toward the finale, which drags here and there. Brosnan seems more comfortable in the role, Dench is given more to do, and Hatcher and Yeoh both score as strong-willed love interests. Pryce is fine as Carver, although I cringed when Joe Don Baker returned for no reason whatsoever. The sense of fun returned too, this is a popcorn and action flick after all, and while the film gets a strong GOOD rating, it doesn't stand out as any better than earlier films. Sheryl Crow's theme song is as forgettable as Tina Turner's "GoldenEye" theme, and the film definitely needed a better ending to wrap things up.
"Tomorrow Never Dies" is one of those franchise entries that everyone forgets about, since "GoldenEye" is ranked better, and "The World Is Not Enough" and especially "Die Another Day" have lesser reputations. We'll see, they're next in my queue. I sure do miss the days when we'd reliably get a Bond film every couple of years.
Stats:
-Directed by Roger Spottiswoode
-Written by Bruce Feirstein, Based on characters created by Ian Fleming
-Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce, Teri Hatcher, Michelle Yeoh, Ricky Jay, Gotz Otto, Judi Dench, Joe Don Baker, Vincent Schiavelli, Desmond Llewelyn, Samantha Bond, Geoffrey Palmer, Julian Fellowes, Gerard Butler
-Media: Streamed on Amazon Prime
-Running Time: 119 minutes
-Rating: (* * * 1/2/* * * * *)
-MPAA Rated (PG13), contains physical violence, gun violence, mild gore, brief female nudity, sexual references, some adult situations, alcohol use
