Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Good concept, poorly executed.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

After the incredible success of "Goldeneye" in Pierce Brosnan's first Bond outing, he returns here with a much more average campaign.For a basic plot summary, "Tomorrow Never Dies" sees Bond (Brosnan) trying to corral news mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) from setting up a network of satellites that will give him complete control over world news. Along the way, Bond meets up with former flame Paris (Terri Hatcher) as well as new "partner in spy" Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh).Simply put, as the title of this review indicates, "Tomorrow Never Dies" is little more or less than the average Bond film. On the bright side, all the typical "Bond elements" are in place and in the right spots. On the downside, it takes a long time for this movie to shift from "exposition mode" to full-on "Bond-dom". Plus, the villains are completely dry (Carver is ridiculous) and even the henchmen are more cardboard than usual.Ironically enough, if one could combine the first half of Brosnan's later "The World Is Not Enough" with the second half of this effort, we would have maybe the best Bond ever! As it stands, though, this is probably Brosnan's 3rd-best effort, ahead of "Die Another Day" but behind the others.

Tomorrow Never Dies sort of repeats the You Only Live Twice story line, though with some notable differences. Brosnan is more relaxed in the role, though he's still not great with quips (though the quips and one-liners he has got as Bond have been abysmal on the whole, so it's not really his fault). Michelle Yeoh is the most robust Bond Girl ever, and the only one who's almost a match for Bond. She's far more competent than Barbara Bach's agent XXX, for instance. Of course, Yeoh isn't a sex pot so the relationship is far less sexual than ever before. Teri Hatcher is forgettable as the other Bond love interest, and she's the one participating in the ongoing weakening of Bond which started with Brosnan's arrival: here, he was afraid when things got serious between them and ran away. Yeah, right. Luckily, there's no character arc where Bond has to overcome yet another psychological trauma this time. Jonathan Pryce is a brilliant actor, and throws himself in the part of evil media mogul Elliot Carver (who was based more on leftist/spy Robert Maxwell than on right-wing fiend Rupert Murdoch). However, Carver isn't really a strong enough opponent for Bond. Perhaps the movie would have worked even better if a Chinese general had been the main villain and Carver the secondary bad guy. Anyway, the action is top notch, with a great teaser, a fun back seat car chase filled with gadgets, a great motorcycle chase (gadget-free) in Vietnam, and a very lengthy and protracted final battle aboard Carver's stealth ship. I would have preferred Bond and Wai Lin to have had a squad of military support (a Bond movie should end like a war movie to be really successful), but they perform like a two-person army anyway. Brosnan kept getting better as Bond - unfortunately the movies got worse, with World Is Not Enough being a garbled mess and Die Another Day going so ridiculously over the top it became painful to watch.

Quite annoying James Bond Movie, I think this was/are. Can't help it; It just never comes to me, how many times I ever try to absorb this movie fair and square.*Pierce Brosnan continuing his mission as James B. quite moderate, almost in a diminished way. He sometimes disappears in the exhibit of sponsor cars and cell-phones, occasionally seems to get in the more silly smiling "Moore"-way. (Sorry about that, Roger....) 5 out of 10.*To me, Jonathan Pryce might be the most annoying and demanding villain of the whole Bond Encyclopedia. As Elliot Carver, a widely rich publisher, who's thirst after breaking news gets unsound. Overacting like h*** when shouting out his devastating plans (to get total control over world media) to anyone who comes in his way. 2 out of 10.*Teri Hatcher's brief cameo does not do her talents right. Just playing the usual symbol wife to Mr. Evil, and happens to have some 007 past stories. 4 out of 10.*Chinese agent Michelle Yeoh is a partner to old Jimmy in the same political way we've seen before. One participant from both the threatened sides. (Does it quite fresh and in a nice way, by all means.) But some super hero stuff pulls the grade some downwards. 5 out of 10.*Sheryl Crow is a favorite of mine, who's musicality has given me much pleasure over the years since the arrival on the public scene in the mid 90's. Being a talented studio musician/singer for years, working with - among others- Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart and Sting, she wanted to try the wings of her own, which went out pretty well. With catchy music and good looks a woman can hypnotize the world, that's for sure.But this theme score I found kind of anemic back then, and it didn't matured over the years either. An easy forgotten tune in my ears. 4 out of 10.*SUMMARY: The one - kind of - less good 90's James Bond. ( OK, there were only three of them...)There were some slight improvement to come in two years time, before the disastrous Brosnan Good-Bye in 2002.

Every decade, the world's least secret secret agent strives to reinvent himself to square off with the changing times. GoldenEye got the '90s ball rolling, boldly reasserting Bond's relevance and appeal in a more action-oriented, post-cold war setting, but it's Tomorrow Never Dies that charts his most topical, inevitable evolution: Bond as a video game character. But if the prospect of 007 swapping his Walther PPK in favour of dual-wielding submachine guns a-la first person shooter is enough to make you want to swig enough martinis to take you back to the '60s, take heart: this Bond may be a livelier, non-smoking, and more raucous edition, but he's still replete with more than enough charm, poise, and oddly topical sociopolitical satire to make Tomorrow Never Dies a somewhat puzzlingly rocky but reliably fun 007 escapade.With video game tie-ins on the brain, it's rather appropriate that Tomorrow Never Dies targets mass media broadcasting by way of central conceit (the opening credits, accompanied by Sheryl Crowe's silky, albeit forgettable, title ballad, drives the critique home, transforming Bond's customary slinking women into cybernetic nightmares). It's an unexpected reconciliation to have one of the most trigger-happy Bond films play as a strangely appropriate companion piece to Wag the Dog of all things, but the premise of machinating a world war for news coverage strikes the perfect balance between ludicrous and credible to play as far less fantastic, and far more ominously prophetic, than was likely initially intended. This paradoxical inconsistency proves pervasive, though. In contrast to the razor-sharp satire at its core, the film's script eschews all of GoldenEye's slick deftness in favour of a campier, flamboyant levity more befitting the Roger Moore era. This is no fault of Brosnan's, who glides across screen with a suave nonchalance. He aces Bond's more cold-blooded moments while still committing to some of the more groan- worthy one-liners of the post-Roger era ("we seem to have developed a certain attachment…"), while grounding the more bombastic shootouts by never skimping on the chance to straighten his tie after a kill shot. It's his least showy rendition of the role, but his consummate smoothness is a perfect fit for the breezier tone of the film. Regardless, this can take some acclimatizing to, particularly thanks to nemesis Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce, delivering a deliciously hammy Rupert Murdoch caricature), who pontificates enough to make Auric Goldfinger roll his eyes. Nonetheless, in the wake of the grimmer, more personal Bonds to follow, it's hard to begrudge Pryce for taking so much evident joy in chomping through his monstrous monologues (his self-satisfied giddiness when proclaiming "we're on a STEALTH BOAT" is palpably infectious), and thereby reminding the film around him to share in the fun.But don't be distressed: director Roger Spottiswoode is more than happy to compensate for the film's talkier political subterfuge with enough explosions to retain the interest of all the mass media drones Carver salaciously preys on. For the purists, Spottiswood sprinkles in some vintage 007 globetrotting stuntwork (a halo jump skydive turned scuba dive; a breathtaking motorcycle/helicopter chase through the streets of Vietnam) amidst the more contemporary shoot-'em-ups. Bond even gets in on the video gaming fun, with Brosnan visibly cackling with meta glee as he drags his finger across a cell phone track pad, orchestrating his own car chase remotely from the back seat of his car. It's a thrilling sequence that toes the line of being too audacious even for Bond, but is curiously restricted to the confines of an interior parking lot – a setting almost as underwhelming as Bond's boxy new BMW, comedic relief German GPS and all. Grow up, 007. Thankfully, sh*t hits the fan with the introduction of Michelle Yeoh's Wai Lin (literally, in the case of her Chinese Q-branch gadgetry, yielding the film's best pun) – arguably the first 'Bond girl' to be such a match for Bond that, rather than being subject to his customary sexist condescension, he almost pleads for her partnership. Yeoh is easily the most fun addition to the film, spicing up action sequences with her martial arts prowess, and balancing it with a perfectly acidic dry wit and oddly chipper approach to conflict resolution. She and Brosnan share a wonderfully curt but sparkling chemistry, trading barbs while shooting over each other's shoulders, that the franchise has never quite replicated since. By way of supporting cast, Teri Hatcher introduces the intriguingly dark subtext of infidelity into Bond's womanizing, even if Hatcher's affections may be a bit too glib to properly embody her character's world-weary heartbreak. Again mirroring the Moore days, Götz Otto, Ricky Jay, and the wonderful Vincent Schiavelli have fun as a pantheon of goofy yet sinister henchmen. Finally, Judi Dench's frosty M maintains an exquisite twinkle in her eye throughout, whether airly prompting Bond to "pump Carver's wife (for information)" or derisively barking at her As Time Goes By co-star Geoffrey Palmer, here fretting as an oafish Naval commander, while Desmond Llewellyn's Q saves a superfluous "insurance waiver" aside ("will you need collision coverage…?") thanks to his peerless cantankerous charisma.Imbalanced oddity that it is, Tomorrow Never Dies clips along at a tidy pace (one of the few Bond films not to breach two hours) – a clumsy but energetically competent return to the frivolity of the Moore era. Bolstered by the clever timeliness of its conflict and the winning chemistry between Brosnan and Yeoh, Tomorrow Never Dies makes for lighter and more action-heavy Bond fare, but exemplifies the escapist charm of the series without drenching it in the CGI excesses to follow. As Bond would retort, there's nothing wrong with "giving the people what they want."-7/10