Reviews Film / Tomorrow Never Dies

Classic Bond in a Modern Era

When describing this franchise, it’s often difficult to find a film that acts as an exemplar for what it’s all about. So many of them are built around a gimmick or chasing a trend that you can’t just pick up one and say, “This is the factory default.” In my mind, a proper James Bond film has tight, action-packed set pieces, exotic locales, beautiful women, bombastic soundtracks, and the British panache of our hero, who always has a quip ready. These are “big” movies. Big sets, big personalities, big scores. Everything about classic Bond is writ large.

Above all else, these films are not deconstructive. They seek not to tear apart the foundation of the series, but embody them. In a time where the wheel is always the subject of attempted reinvention, where the continued relevance of Bond is repeatedly – even, repetitively – questioned, to encounter a film which celebrates its identity as a Bond film is refreshing.

Pierce Brosnan here is comfortable in the role, giving us a versatile Bond who shoots and seduces in equal measure. He’s described as an amalgamation of all the previous Bonds, and it’s a description with some merit. He has the toughness of Connery, the complicated humanity of Dalton, and Roger Moore’s sense of fun. Here, he channels a little more Roger Moore than in any other film, infusing it with his own natural charm to create a manifestation of the well-worn character who is sympathetic, likeable, and genuinely entertaining to watch. ‘’This’’ is the Bond men want to be and women want to be with, as the saying goes.

Michelle Yeoh as his Chinese opposite number Wai Lin is an inspired inclusion. She added welcome diversity to the stable of actresses to play Bond girls, and is tough, intelligent, and sexy in the role, while firmly establishing her as Bond’s peer as an action hero. Jonathan Pryce is having the time of his life playing Big Bad Eliot Carver. It turns out you ‘’can’’ have a totally hammy, over the top villain and still have a great film built around him. The action scenes in this movie rock – the car chase in the parking garage, Bond piloting his BMW remotely from the back seat; the motorcycle chase through the streets of Saigon; the infiltration of the stealth ship – they’re pure Bond fun. This film also has the first of five soundtracks composed by David Arnold, who suffuses the music with John Barry’s classic Bond atmosphere. The plot of this film is surprisingly prescient in a time where the influence of mass media is such a focus of our present-day discourse, but the curiously pre-Internet focus of Carver’s media empire gives it an antiquated varnish.

Overall, this movie is just plain fun. If I find myself just wanting a Bond movie to throw on and have a fun couple hours all the way through, this is the one I watch.