Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
After GoldenEye impressed quite a bit, I had high hopes for the next few films in the franchise. Little did I know Roger Spottiswoode would take over the role of director from Martin Campbell and give us Tomorrow Never Dies. With the ever-expanding tv and fight for ratings, a crazed media mogul named Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) hatches what seems like the perfect scheme. Carver plans to create a global war to boost his ratings and it is up to James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) to stop him.
The immediate thing that should stick from that introduction is the plot of this film. Where it is commonly thought that the franchise had it's over the top goofy villains in the 70s, it turns out that the 90s would provide us with easily one of the most cartoonish villains of the franchise. This is such a dumb plot that has aged arguably worse than any other plot in these films. What makes it not just boring and bad but also frustrating is the fact that it is Jonathan Bryce playing the villain. Pryce is such a great actor and easily could have been one of the best Bond villains of all time, where he clearly is trying his hardest to make something special here he cannot fight the horrible script and character that makes up Elliot Carver. This is a complete 180 from the engaging and well-crafted plot of GoldenEye.
This is also a shame considering as I predicted before Pierce Brosnan really started to get into his role here. Per the usual, it takes around a film for actors to get truly comfortable and confident as James Bond and it is clear that Brosnan is starting to gain that confidence which is needed for the role. He was always good in the more dramatic scenes but here in a more goofy environment he gets plenty of practice with the more comedy and charismatic side of Bond and starts to put it all together. If there is one thing that I am excited to see in the next few Bond films it is this performance which I am sure will continue to grow and evolve.
Where I had high hopes after GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies has left me again pretty unhopeful for the next few films. Finally, it seemed like Bond was moving into an era of true substance and craft but now it seems to have completely bailed on that which is a shame to see. Considering we will have another director change maybe it will improve but I don't want to get my hopes up.
Where I had high hopes after GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies has left me again pretty unhopeful for the next few films. Finally, it seemed like Bond was moving into an era of true substance and craft but now it seems to have completely bailed on that which is a shame to see. Considering we will have another director change maybe it will improve but I don't want to get my hopes up.