let me start off by saying that leading up to the release of the latest bond film , i really wasn't looking forward to it as much as i have with some of the previous films . 
i'm not sure if it was the fairly lackluster trailers or the ever-present dread that the next film will fall back into the miserable ways of the timothy dalton years . 
i'm happy to report that any doubts were erased after about the first 10 minutes of the film . 
by that point , it was evident that mr . bond was back with a vengeance . 
all doubts would have probably been erased sooner except for the fact that the first ten minutes of the film weren't exactly a pleasant experience . 
it seems that nobody told the geniuses working at the theater that the house lights are supposed to be turned off when the movie starts . 
it took a reminder from an audience member to clue them in . 
i guess they can be excused though , taking tickets and cleaning up popcorn between shows is extremely taxing on the brain . 
anyway , after somebody remembered what the light switch was for , i settled in for bond . 
i think the most noticeable aspect of this , the 19th film in the series , is that it really goes back to the almost tongue in cheek style of the roger moore films . 
there were probably more one-liners in this movie than in the last several combined . 
and bond's last one-liner in the film is about the best of the series . 
the world is not enough also contained perhaps the most action of any movie of the series . 
everything from wild boat chases to the usual assortment of cool bond gadgets trotted out just when there seems to be no way out for 007 . 
for the most part , the action sequences worked very well . 
although , there were a couple of times that i thought some things were a bit over the top , even for a bond film . 
i think some of the blame can be laid at the feet of director michael apted . 
while he did a good job for the most part , there were points in the movie , specifically during action sequences , that he seemed to loose site of the fact that he was making essentially an action film . 
most noticeably sequences on a snow covered mountain and one involving bond getting through a closing door looked like apted thought he was filming some sort of high brow art movie . 
he almost seemed like he didn't know what he was doing . 
but they were brief scenes and really shouldn't take away from the otherwise solid job that apted did in directing . 
if you have ever seen a bond film , you won't be shocked to learn that plot has never been their strong suit . 
the world is not enough is no exception . 
this time we have yet another over villain that bond has to stop for the good of the world . 
007 matches wits with the terrorist renard ( robert carlyle ) , a man who has a bullet lodged in his brain that makes him impervious to pain . 
why this point is included is beyond me . 
they took great pains to explain his condition , but it only came up later in the movie as a scene that can only be described as looking like an afterthought . 
anyway , renard , like the typical terrorist that he is , is bent on some harebrained scheme involving a mid-east oil pipeline . 
i guess world domination just isn't as attractive to terrorists as a money making venture anymore . 
bond is brought in to protect the pipeline's owner , elektra king ( sophie marceau ) , who is the daughter of one of renard's recent victims . 
along the way , bond has to enlist the help of a nuclear scientist , dr . christmas jones ( denise richards ) , and his old rival valentin zukovsky ( robert carlyle ) . 
like all bond films , you basically just have to suspend disbelief over the plot , since it is ridiculous beyond words . 
my biggest complaint would be that it was about the most disjointed of any of the bond films . 
there was at least one point that i had to stop and try to remember why bond was where he was and why he was doing what he was doing . 
the buddy that i saw the movie with was completely confused over an earlier kidnapping of marceau's character . 
it was alluded to earlier in the movie briefly -- although not included in the film . 
later , it became a big part of the story and left him with the distinct feeling that he had missed something . 
but because it is a bond film , the beautiful women and nifty gadgets seem to make you forget about script problems quite quickly . 
after all , it isn't shakespeare . 
how about the cast ? 
brosnan seems to get better with each of his appearances as 007 . 
i grew up with the roger moore version of bond , so i really enjoyed the lighter style that brosnan brings to the character . 
judi dench , as m , had a bigger role in this film than in her two previous appearances in the role . 
she brought the talent with her that one would expect from an oscar winner . 
robbie coltrane was easily one of the best parts in goldeneye , so it was nice to see his russian mobster character revived in this movie . 
coltrane gets more screen time , which simply leads to him stealing even more scenes . 
then there are the bond girls . 
sophie marceau might be one of the most beautiful actresses working today . 
there is just something about her breathtaking eyes that makes her a natural to play the innocent victim . 
those that saw her in braveheart know she is more than just a pretty face . 
marceau may be the most talented actress to ever play a bond love interest . 
then we have denise richards . 
there was no doubt in my mind that she was cast exclusively for her looks . 
and after you see the outfits she wears , you won't have any trouble guessing what part of her anatomy caught the producer's eyes . 
i was pleasantly surprised to find that she really did a good job playing a nuclear scientist . 
admittedly , there was one point that the audience snickered a bit at one of her technical lines of dialogue , but other than that she stacks up ( no pun intended ) to her bond girl predecessors nicely . 
i must say that the biggest disappointment was robert carlyle's character . 
while carlyle did a fine job with the material that he had , his character just never worked for me . 
the producers tried very hard to add more complexity to his character , but it just never quite got off the ground . 
i guess i was hoping for a bit more regarding the whole impervious to pain aspect of his character , but the writers decided to play up the emotional side of his character . 
this might have worked well in another movie , but i don't go to see bond movies for their deep characterizations . 
last , but not least , we have desmond llewelyn as q . this is the 17th appearance for llewelyn as bond's gadget guy , and he is as good as ever . 
although his screen time has grown far more limited in the past few films , he is still a treat to watch . 
rumors abound that this may be his last appearance in the role . 
he says future appearances are up to a higher power . 
the producers have introduced his protege and future replacement , a bumbling and somewhat pompous character played by comedy master john cleese . 
while we don't see much of him in this film , i think it is fair to say that desmond llewelyn's legacy , whenever it is passed on , will be in very capable hands . 
so how does it stack up ? 
despite some problems , the world is not enough is a very entertaining movie . 
and , all things considered , what problems it does have are small compared to some that have plagued earlier bond movies . 
this is easily the best of the brosnan films . 
it may even be the best of the entire series , certainly in the top 3 . 
one thing is for sure , even after 19 movies , there is still plenty of life left in the james bond series . 
here's looking forward to bond number 20 .