When Bond Flicks Are Formulaic, Everyone Loses

Secret agent, my foot. How secret can this guy be? He keeps going around telling people his name.

Although James Bond was never one to be coy or reserved, the claim that his agent ship is secret becomes an increasingly ridiculous assertion with the advent of each new film. The bad guys in each movie must all have flunked out of elementary bad guy school, where dealing with James Bond is a more important part of the curriculum than even sections devoted to Superman and proper income tax return techniques. They were most assuredly all absent the day The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly was shown and Eli Wallach's priceless gem of wisdom was studied: "When you gotta shoot, shoot, don't talk."

In fact, Tomorrow Never Dies is no better than a mediocre, run-of-the-mill, modern action flick. Sure, the high paced action scenes, abundant chases, explosions and lavish gadgetry with which a Bond film is now associated has entertainment value of its own. But to claim that the current films have any more tradition or class to them than any generic action movie with say, Arnold or Stephen Segal, is bunk. Better to just do away with the whole cumbersome apparatus and obligatory baggage which slapping a Bond label on a movie entails, and instead devote the energy to making good original action films.

Tomorrow Never Dies is fairly watchable, taken by itself. There are some nice scenic shots of missiles and jet fighters cruising over mountain ranges. There are many appreciably nifty action sequences involving vehicles of all sorts. There is also the usual bevy of beautiful Bond women, this time including Teri Hatcher, and a new twist to the series in the person of Michelle Yeoh, a Chinese dish who joins forces with 007 and is as skilled and equipped for secret agency as Bond.

But the relentless drive for more action and stunts eventually becomes overwhelming. The machine guns effectively attached to the characters' arms only function as noise-makers, and by the end, the movie becomes bogged down in big bangs and blow-ups.

Pierce Brosnan is substantially improved as 007. Although no one can possibly surpass the standards set by Sean Connery, Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies probably comes the closest. In this movie he is much more somber, more reserved and better composed. He makes it seem as though his predicaments represent business as usual, and in so doing, seems to be having more fun. He has tamed his rampant smirks, paring down their usage so that they become a potent portrayer of cunning and savoir-faire and not simply a crutch.

Despite Brosnan championing the character's cause, the gadgetry and explosions win out. The action should have featured less gadgetry, and that gadgetry should have included fewer Ericsson mobile phones.

Now instead of simply selling the James Bond character out for the sake of box office sales, Tomorrow Never Dies has eliminated the middle-man and gone straight to selling him to private companies. Ultimately, the movie is nothing more than the world's most expensive commercial.