I truly disliked "Tomorrow Never Dies", for being too much of a generic action movie, and too little of James Bond. Now, with TWINE, Bond is back at his very, very best: Slick, witty, charming, elegant - and relating more on a good plot than simply machine-gunning down his enemies.
TWINE begins with what may be the best opening sequence of any Bond movie - a breath-taking boat chase on the Thames, ending up in a hot air balloon by the Millennium Dome. It continues with a fascinating plot, full of twists and turns, and - quite a novelty for a Bond movie - some genuine character development.
Brosnan is more confident in his Bond role than ever - in his third outing, he IS Bond without any doubts. The stunningly beautiful Sophie Marceau brings tremendously much to the movie with her ambiguous character. Is she good or evil? What are her motivations? Denise Richards looks pretty and fills out her tank top in plenty, which I suppose is why they hired her in the first place. As for the main villain, Robert Carlyle is one of the few disappointments in the movie. He's just too bland to make any real impression, and somewhere along the way you start feeling sorry for him rather than hate him (which any good Bond villain should make you do). Then there's the always reliable Robbie Coltrane reprising his humourous role as Russian mafia-boss Zukovsky, and John Cleese makes a funny debut as Q's replacement.
The locations are mostly ugly (oil fields in Azerbadjan?), but there are some beautiful scenes to compensate (one skiing scene in particular). The action scenes are credible and well executed, and doesn't completely take control over the move (like in "Tomorrow Never Dies"). And finally, the musical score is nearly perfect, giving strong flashbacks to the golden era of John Barry.
This is one of the very best Bond movies ever in my opinion. I give it a strong 5 out of 6 on my dice, and recommend it to everyone!
TWINE begins with what may be the best opening sequence of any Bond movie - a breath-taking boat chase on the Thames, ending up in a hot air balloon by the Millennium Dome. It continues with a fascinating plot, full of twists and turns, and - quite a novelty for a Bond movie - some genuine character development.
Brosnan is more confident in his Bond role than ever - in his third outing, he IS Bond without any doubts. The stunningly beautiful Sophie Marceau brings tremendously much to the movie with her ambiguous character. Is she good or evil? What are her motivations? Denise Richards looks pretty and fills out her tank top in plenty, which I suppose is why they hired her in the first place. As for the main villain, Robert Carlyle is one of the few disappointments in the movie. He's just too bland to make any real impression, and somewhere along the way you start feeling sorry for him rather than hate him (which any good Bond villain should make you do). Then there's the always reliable Robbie Coltrane reprising his humourous role as Russian mafia-boss Zukovsky, and John Cleese makes a funny debut as Q's replacement.
The locations are mostly ugly (oil fields in Azerbadjan?), but there are some beautiful scenes to compensate (one skiing scene in particular). The action scenes are credible and well executed, and doesn't completely take control over the move (like in "Tomorrow Never Dies"). And finally, the musical score is nearly perfect, giving strong flashbacks to the golden era of John Barry.
This is one of the very best Bond movies ever in my opinion. I give it a strong 5 out of 6 on my dice, and recommend it to everyone!