TOMORROW NEVER DIES
For Pierce Brosnan's second James Bond
outing, humorist-turned-screenwriter Bruce Feirstein puts to rest
007's longtime mud-slinging with Russians and Communists and pits
Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang against a new enemy in the post-Cold War
era: media moguls. Feirstein has created the Bond series' most
intriguing and amusing meglomaniacal foe in years, the Rupert
Murdoch-esque Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), a techno-savvy,
modern-day Hearst whose plan to boost ratings for his news network
involves instigating World War III. (One funny scene has Carver
ordering a minion to threaten the U.S. government if it increases
cable rates.) Hopefully, Feirstein will remain with 007 as long as frequent
Bond scribe Richard Maibaum did — his knack for droll satire
and punchy dialogue, much of it uttered by Judi Dench's wonderfully
snappy, scene-stealing M, is keeping this once-languishing series
alive.
However, Tomorrow Never Dies
runs out of steam after the first 90 minutes; the customary climax
at the villain's lair, often staged with panache, is monotonous
and unimaginatively directed. Despite an unsatisfying final half-hour,
the never-too-wooden Brosnan fares well as Bond once again, and
Tomorrow is distinguished by ingenious set pieces (including
a Hong Kong-style motorcycle chase), David Arnold's soulful, witty,
John Barry-style score (a vast improvement over Eric Serra's chintzy
video-game Muzak for GoldenEye) and the presence of the
ever-charming HK film goddess Michelle Yeoh. As Bond's fearless,
Emma Peel-like sidekick, Chinese agent Wai Lin, Yeoh deserves
a spinoff series of her own. Yeoh could kick 007's ass up and
down the block if the producers gave her the chance.
© 2001 Jim Aquino