A Bond movie which admirably aspires to insert the 'neo-noir' concept into the Bond genre and ultimately falls flat on its face thanks to an ultra-convoluted plot that is not as interesting as it sets out to be, an over-appliance of technological idiom that regularly leaves the audience baffled, and a couple of inadequate villains who provoke more pity than dread. Director Apted's technique of never deviating from the storyboards doesn't give the film enough air to 'breathe', often rendering it suffocatingly uninvolving. Consequently, the film gets its greater impact during the interactions between Bond-Elektra-Renard and sleepwalks through its action sequences. Brosnan, on the other hand, overdoes the smooth to not always good effect: talking to ladies in the silky sexed-up voice is absolutely fine but talking to Q in that same manner is probably not such a good idea. As a whole, though not successful, this has to be respected for its ambitions and an admittedly spectacular pre-credits sequence.
Review of The World Is Not Enough
