Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

Genre

Action | Thriller

Director

Roger Spottiswoode

Country

UK

Cast

Pierce Brosnan, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Pryce, Teri Hatcher, Götz Otto, Ricky Jay, Joe Don Baker, Vincent Schiavelli, Judi Dench, Desmond Llewelyn, Samantha Bond, Daphne Deckers, Geoffrey Palmer, Colin Salmon, Julian Fellowes, Cecilie Thomsen, Gerard Butler

Storyline

James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) heads to stop megalomaniac media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) from provoking World War II.

Opinion

I never thought I would say this about a Bond flick, but why do people hate this film? I struggle to understand it, and I don't think the film deserves all the hate it has received. Sure, it may not be the best entry in the franchise, still "Tomorrow Never Dies" is a quite enjoyable entry packed with great action.

It must be said that the plot is a little bit obvious and predictable, and lacks of any major twists as the espionage appears to have been set aside permanently - from the very beginning we already know who the villain is and what his intentions are -, but like "GoldenEye" it deals with more modern topics. The film manages to provide food for thoughts regarding the enormous power mass media has, and their ability to influence basically everything.

Sure, the screenplay isn't particularly strong - some characters could have been developed a lot better to be honest, the villain is the classic Bond villain archetype - but the film moves at a smooth pace you almost don't even notice it.

As always Bond uses fantastic gadgets gently provided by Q, maybe there's a heavy use of them in this film, but I believe this is what the fans wanted. Anyway, the action, like I said before, is amazing, and hardly will disappoint a fan of the genre.

Pierce Brosnan is at the top of his game, smooth and funny as he returns and seems more confident as Bond. Jonathan Pryce give a nice performances as the over-the-top megalomaniac villain Carver, and even though his character isn't much intimidating he manages to stand out. Götz Otto also gives a fine performance as Carver's psychotic henchman.