"Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997) is so far the only Bond movie directed by Roger Spottiswoode. It is the second film in the series featuring Pierce Brosnan as 007. It is also the first Bond film I saw in cinema as a little boy.
A British navy ship mysteriously sinks at the Chinese waters and a Chinese fighter jet is shot down. When media mogul Elliot Carver reports of these events in his Tomorrow newspaper faster than should have been possible, the British Secret Service becomes suspicious. M sends James Bond to investigate Carver, as Bond used to have an intimate relationship with Carver's current wife Paris. Along the way Bond meets Wai Lin, a Chinese spy also investigating Carver. The two become positive that Carver is trying to instigate World War III simply because it sells papers.
After the "GoldenEye" brought James Bond successfully to post cold war world, it remained to be seen if the series would be able to remain as good. "Tomorrow Never Dies" is once again one of those Bond films that other people love and other hate. Personally, I belong in the former group. There's a lot of good things going for this film. The whole media angle in the plot is not only interesting, but also very believable way for modern day world domination. This movie also has surprising amount of action, with car chases and jumping down from buildings. The ending battle in Carver's ship brings "The Spy Who Loved Me" to mind. Yet the most memorable, and possibly one of my favorite action scenes, is the one where Bond and Lin, handcuffed to each others, ride a motorcycle through the busy streets of Saigon while a helicopter chases them.
Brosnan pulls through the movie with same confidence he had in "GoldenEye" and he doesn't seem old news at all. Jonathan Pryce must have had fun playing Elliot Carver, a villain with an ego so big it would make Auric Goldfinger blush. He's definitely the life of this movie, just watching him being a gleeful evil bastard is a joy. Another great thing is Michelle Yeoh as Wai Lin. There's nothing much to her character, but having Michelle Yeoh kick ass in a movie is never a bad idea. The weak link of the cast is Teri Hatcher as Paris Carver. She's nice to look at but not right person to play sympathetic love roles. Judi Dench and Joe Don Baker return to reprise their roles from previous movie and give good support.
"Tomorrow Never Dies" is not the greatest Bond movie in the series, but it's a real fun to watch and good follow up to the excellent "GoldenEye". After this Brosnan's Bond era sadly started going south.
A British navy ship mysteriously sinks at the Chinese waters and a Chinese fighter jet is shot down. When media mogul Elliot Carver reports of these events in his Tomorrow newspaper faster than should have been possible, the British Secret Service becomes suspicious. M sends James Bond to investigate Carver, as Bond used to have an intimate relationship with Carver's current wife Paris. Along the way Bond meets Wai Lin, a Chinese spy also investigating Carver. The two become positive that Carver is trying to instigate World War III simply because it sells papers.
After the "GoldenEye" brought James Bond successfully to post cold war world, it remained to be seen if the series would be able to remain as good. "Tomorrow Never Dies" is once again one of those Bond films that other people love and other hate. Personally, I belong in the former group. There's a lot of good things going for this film. The whole media angle in the plot is not only interesting, but also very believable way for modern day world domination. This movie also has surprising amount of action, with car chases and jumping down from buildings. The ending battle in Carver's ship brings "The Spy Who Loved Me" to mind. Yet the most memorable, and possibly one of my favorite action scenes, is the one where Bond and Lin, handcuffed to each others, ride a motorcycle through the busy streets of Saigon while a helicopter chases them.
Brosnan pulls through the movie with same confidence he had in "GoldenEye" and he doesn't seem old news at all. Jonathan Pryce must have had fun playing Elliot Carver, a villain with an ego so big it would make Auric Goldfinger blush. He's definitely the life of this movie, just watching him being a gleeful evil bastard is a joy. Another great thing is Michelle Yeoh as Wai Lin. There's nothing much to her character, but having Michelle Yeoh kick ass in a movie is never a bad idea. The weak link of the cast is Teri Hatcher as Paris Carver. She's nice to look at but not right person to play sympathetic love roles. Judi Dench and Joe Don Baker return to reprise their roles from previous movie and give good support.
"Tomorrow Never Dies" is not the greatest Bond movie in the series, but it's a real fun to watch and good follow up to the excellent "GoldenEye". After this Brosnan's Bond era sadly started going south.
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