Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

_**Serviceable but forgettable Brosnan installment**_ After a British warship is inexplicably destroyed in Chinese waters, the planet teeters on the brink of world war. Agent 007 (Pierce Brosnan) traces the rising pandemonium to a powerful media baron who manipulates vital data and news to his own diabolical ends (Jonathan Pryce). Teri Hatcher plays the industrialist’s wife while Michelle Yeoh is on hand as a Chinese agent with whom Bond teams up. "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997) is a competent enough Bond flick with loads of action highlighted by the opening terrorist arms bazaar on the Russian border, a melee at a newspaper factory in Hamburg, an underwater investigation of a wreck near the South China Sea and a wild motorcycle chase in Saigon with 007 handcuffed to the Chinese agent. Hatcher is another highlight in one of the best “whoa, mama” moments in the franchise’s history, albeit brief. I also enjoyed the entertaining banter for the first two-thirds of the movie. Unfortunately, the picture lacks the colorful dynamic of pre-Brosnan installments, hampered by a muted grey pall throughout. Then there’s the eye-rolling sequence in a parking garage where Bond operates his BMW via remote control while lying in the back seat (Why Sure!). Plus the showdown on Carver's stealth ship in dark waters is curiously dull despite all the “exciting” thrills; in other words, it’s overkill action garbage. Still, it’s a serviceable Bond flick; it’s just forgettable and the least of Brosnan’s 4-film stint. The film runs 1 hour, 58 minutes, and was shot in Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France (Arms bazaar opening sequence); many locations in England; Hamburg, Germany; Thailand (standing in for Vietnam); and Rosarito, Baja California Norte, Mexico (naval scenes). GRADE: B-/C+