“The chase scenes are exciting thrill-a-minute rides on cars, boats, hot air balloons, snow-mobiles and skis.”
He’s back, not Jack, James. Bond, James Bond. 007, special agent on her Majesty’s Secret Service and this time his mission is to save the damsel in distress. Oh, and by performing this duty, he might just save the world’s supply of oil. Surprise!
Although Ian Fleming did not pen this particular installment of everyone’s favorite spy, all the best of Fleming’s Bond is included: babes, gadgets, exotic locations, bad guys, and cars. The chase scenes are exciting thrill-a-minute rides on cars, boats, hot air balloons, snow-mobiles and skis. Our damsel is Elektra King, and her rich oil tycoon father has been killed right in the office of James Bond. 007 must protect her from the bad guy as she tries to finish the building of her father’s oil pipeline through the Middle East. Guess what? Elektra King is a hottie, big time. Played by French actress, Sophie Marceau, you will recognize her from her role as the young queen in ‘Braveheart’. The bad guy is Robert Carlyle, yes the crazy bar-room brawler from Trainspotting, and he is oh-so bad. Of course he wants to conquer the world, delusions of grandeur, I guess.
Pierce Brosnan’s interpretation of James is getting better. (I must admit, I am a Sean Connery fan). This time around the writers let him use some of his comic ability to deliver those famous Bond lines. And there are some classic one liners in this movie. Classic. Q is back and this was his last appearance as the quirky inventor of international spy paraphernalia. His replacement is John Cleese. Can’t wait to see how he gets to develop this character. My only major complaint is the other Bond girl, Dr. Christmas Jones, nuclear physicist extrordinaire. She is played by Denise Richards, of the movie Wild Things. Basically, she sucks. The believability ratio of her being a doctor of anything is 1 in a million. But, she looks good in a pair of shorts.
All in all, good fun, Bond style.
-February 2000
