Tomorrow Never Dies

With Goldeneye and its leading man succeeding with audiences, the future of James Bond was looking bright once more and audiences would only have to wait two years before Tomorrow Never Dies would release into cinemas back in 1997. Two years? How I wish the franchise kept that momentum...

Just like its predecessor, TND is an entirely original story and follows Bond on a new adventure to investigate a powerful media tycoon who might have some involvement in the sinking of a British naval vessel in the South China Sea. 

Roger Spottiswoode takes the directing seat and provides plenty of action and gadgets in this explosive entry for just under two hours. It all runs along quite well and Brosnan is on fine form again, with the same to be said for the returning cast and a perfectly over-the-top Jonathan Pryce as the maniacal villain but it lacks the edge of Goldeneye to really make an impact. This sentiment has been carried by many 007 fans and it has sometimes been regarded as designed-by-committee for how safe it is.

With that said, it's a perfectly functional Bond film that delivers much of what audiences would expect today but that missing ingredient might come down to this having had something of a troubled production. MGM were keen to rush out the next 007 adventure and so filming began without a finalised script, which can be the kiss of death. But what we get is still a lot of fun and the action certainly won me over as a child. Today, I feel there's almost too much action for the sake of it, and perhaps to hide the rather light story but I don't want to seem too critical as I still had fun returning to this many years later.

Tomorrow Never Dies isn't perfect nor the most memorable but the straightforward direction with Bond on a mission using gadgets, guns and some silly quips for humour, not to forget a rather fun scene with Q, create what many fans hope to see more of from the franchise going forward. All in all, TND is a perfectly entertaining action flick that ticks most of the boxes for what fans hope to see from James Bond, and will entertain newcomers as well.