MTV Movies Blog is earning its license to kill with a feature we call the Bond-a-Thond. Every Wednesday we're taking a look back at a single (official) Bond film, giving you the vitals and seeing how it holds up, right up until the release of "Skyfall" on November 9. Feel free to watch along with us and share your thoughts or just kick back and enjoy the Bond.
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Plot: Bond must track down an international terrorist, who he believes murdered an oil executive and friend of M.
Title Meaning: Bond speaks the title, a reference to a line in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," while talking to Elektra
Song: "The World Is Not Enough," performed by Garbage
Bond: Pierce Brosnan
Villains: Renard, a nearly senseless terrorist played by Robert Carlyle, and Elektra King, an oil baron's daughter, played by Sophie Marceau
Bond Girl: Dr. Christmas Jones, the worst Bond girl ever, played by Denise Richards
"Bond, James Bond" Occurrences: 2
Martinis: 1
Card Games: 0
Cigarettes Smoked: 0
Explosions: 32
Tuxes Worn: 1
Kills By Bond: 18
Most Creative Kill: I'm not sure how he does it, but Bond somehow reserves the pressure of the nuclear reactor and sends a rod directly into Renard.
Gadgets: A giant inflatable ball that erupts from Bond's ski coat
Mental State of Miss Moneypenny: Cheeky
First Occurrence of Sex: 20 minutes in
Sexual Partners: 3 (MI6 physician, Elektra King, Christmas Jones)
Most Unrealistic Moments: Denise Richards plays a character that graduated from college.
Most "Bond" Moments: Bond jumps out of a window using a string, anchored by an unconscious person.
Place in Bond History: "The World Is Not Enough" holds the record for the longest pre-credit sequence in the series, lasting a total of 15 minutes.
Review:
As "Tomorrow Never Dies" demonstrated the importance of a menacing villain to the Bond formula, "The World Is Not Enough" proves that it takes more than looks to be a Bond girl. As Dr. Christmas Jones, Denise Richards single-handedly drags down what is otherwise a strong Bond film.
The film's true strength lies with the other Bond girl, Elektra King, played by a much more vibrant Sophie Marceau. King is one of the very few Bond girls to ever go completely bad, even overshadowing the film's supposed main villain. Robert Carlyle, while interesting here, isn't given much to do and pales next to Elektra.
Of the Brosnan films, "The World Is Not Enough" ranks as the second best to "GoldenEye" and by far, the most underrated. It is worth a revisit, as long as you can laugh at the Christmas instead of cry.
The Bond-a-Thond will return next week in "Die Another Day."
What do you think of "The World Is Not Enough"? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!
