Rated PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Action
Violence, Sexuality and Innuendo)
Running Time: 1 Hour & 59 Minutes
Cast-
Pierce Brosnan-007, James Bond
Jonathan Pryce-Elliot Carver
Michelle Yeoh-Colonel Wai Lin
Teri Hatcher-Paris Carver
Judi Dench-M
Desmond Llewelyn-Q
Samantha Bond-Miss Jane Moneypenny
Colin Salmon-Chief of Staff Charles
Robinson
Joe Don Baker-Jack Wade
Götz Otto-Richard Stamper
Ricky Jay-Henry Gupta
Vincent Schiavelli-Dr. Kaufman
Geoffrey Palmer-Admiral Roebuck
Julian Fellowes-Minister of Defense
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode
 |
| Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh proved to be a strong pairing in "Tomorrow Never Dies." |
Thanks to director Martin Campbell and Pierce
Brosnan, 1995’s “GoldenEye” made James Bond relevant once more, injecting some
much needed life back into this venerable franchise. Unfortunately, the
producers didn’t keep up the momentum and it was back to business as usual with
“Tomorrow Never Dies,” the eighteenth Bond film released in 1997. The action is
loud and the villains are evil but the film is let down by a rushed script and
a ridiculous premise.
007, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is
infiltrating a terrorist arms bazaar on the Russian border with M (Judi Dench)
and Charles Robinson (Colin Salmon) providing communications support. Before he
can finish his reconnaissance British Admiral Roebuck (Geoffrey Palmer) orders
a missile launch to take out all the terrorists in one strike. Bond discovers
Soviet nuclear warheads mounted on two L-39 Albatros fighter jets, which would
cause untold radioactive contamination if destroyed. With the missile launch
unable to be aborted, Bond hijacks the jet and escapes just before everything
is blown up. Unbeknownst to him, one of the terrorists has escaped with a GPS
encoder made by the American military. Elsewhere, a stealth ship sinks the HMS Devonshire off the coast of China
and shoots down a Chinese J-7 fighter jet sent in to investigate. MI6 suspects
media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), head of CMGN, as behind the attack
and Bond is sent to Hamburg, Germany to investigate. He seduces Carver’s wife
Paris (Teri Hatcher), who happens to be an ex-girlfriend, for information and
manages to steal back the GPS encoder at CMGN’s newspaper headquarters. During
the ensuing gun fight, Bond crosses paths with a Chinese agent named Wai Lin
(Michelle Yeoh). Together, they discover that Carver wants to dominate the
world’s media by instigating a war between the United Kingdom and China.
“Tomorrow Never Dies” does not deviate
from the usual Bond formula but there are a few wrinkles, especially with the
villain, Elliot Carver. He’s still a megalomaniac but instead of world
domination, he wants to have…higher ratings. Since China refused to grant
exclusive broadcasting rights to his media company CMGN, he intends to make up
the news by sparking World War III! Honestly, it’s ludicrous, even for a Bond
film, and comes dangerously close to rivaling 2002’s “Die Another Day” in
absurdity. All that was missing is a satellite shooting giant beams of
sunlight. There’s a weak attempt to explore Bond’s loneliness and how he keeps
all the women he sleeps with from getting too close but eventually this is
pushed aside in favor of the action. Despite the abundance of explosions and
gunfire, I found the action scenes strangely lacking. As always, Q grants Bond
a new car, a BMW 750i, equipped with rockets and can be remote-controlled
through a touchpad cell-phone. Later, Bond and Wai Lin find themselves captured
by Carver at his Saigon headquarters (actually filmed in Thailand) and escapes
by leaping off the roof while holding onto a large banner. A big chase ensues
with them on a motorcycle with a pursuing helicopter, explosively brought down
when a clothesline gets caught in one of the rotors. The script was subject to
numerous rewrites and was originally set during the July 1997 transfer of Hong
Kong from British to Chinese rule. This was dropped in order to avoid a ‘life
imitating art’ fiasco and rewrites continued even as filming began in January,
1997. Surprisingly, it all ends up coherent, if a little paper-thin. Although
it rarely breaks any new ground, “Tomorrow Never Dies” remains an enjoyable
affair.
Pierce Brosnan settles in comfortably into
his role as James Bond, charming with the women but cold-hearted with the
villains. Played by Hong Kong action star Michelle Yeoh, Wai Lin is a nice
change of pace from other Bond girls. She’s not a helpless damsel-in-distress
and being a secret agent herself, can more than hold her own against a group of
bad guys. Yeoh and Brosnan have great chemistry and have an enjoyable repartee.
Lin is also one of the few Bond girls who do not sleep with Bond, at least not
until the very end right before the end credits roll. Unfortunately, Teri
Hatcher disappoints and even admits she wasn’t happy with her role. Jonathan
Pryce goes way over-the-top as insane media mogul Elliot Carver, a
not-so-subtle satire of Rupert Murdoch. He would feel quite at home in a
60’s comic book. Götz Otto is Carver’s right-hand man Richard Stamper, who is
the very definition of Übermensch. Bond stabs him multiple times and it doesn’t
even slow him down. This time the theme song is sung by Sheryl Crow but it’s
very low-key and lacks a feeling of grandeur. I wasn’t enamored with the
opening credits which had women covered in circuitry and television screens
hovering around. David Arnold also begins his long relationship with the Bond
franchise, taking over the score and he does not disappoint, making liberal use
of the Bond theme.
“Tomorrow Never Dies” was released on
December 19, 1997, going up against James Cameron’s “Titanic.” As a result, it
didn’t open at number one at the domestic box office and had a lower worldwide
gross with $333 million, which is still impressive. Reviews were mixed with 57%
on Rotten Tomatoes. After “GoldenEye,” Brosnan’s run as Bond in the next three
installments devolved into formula and loud action, which is a shame since the
actor was handicapped by less-than-stellar scripts. Still, ridiculous premise
aside, “Tomorrow Never Dies” is an enjoyable if unremarkable entry.
Final Rating: 3 out of 5
"The distance between insanity and
genius is measured only by success!"
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