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You won't find a conventional Bond film here. It's grandiose, absurd, full of funny moments and gritty violent ones a lot, backed by a complex cerebral thriller plot that's atypical for a Bond movie and bound to confuse. An excellent pair of villains in this film aspire to do more than simply rule the world. Brosnan plays his most ruthless interpretation of Bond. I welcome the change.
But this film does have big shortcomings which prevent it from being great. With corny dialogue and another ditzy female lead, the series slips back into its old habits. Some decisions are questionable, such as spending 15 minutes filming a caviar factory being destroyed. Worst of all, the directing was bland. Many scenes which should've had a big emotional oomph simply didn't.
When all's said and done, it's one of the most progressive and innovative Bond films ever made, but I keep thinking to myself what this film could've been with more work put into it.
Overall Rating: 6/10 (Good)
In this film the director and Producers found what worked so good in Goldeneye to make a film which would fit perfectly fine with Pierce and Franchise.
Pierce feels this time more than ever that he is James Bond and that gives the film a great vibe. Its a film which blends very well the modern and Classic era Bond, it has depth but not the point of making us forget we are watching Bond, it has some great action moments but its not as action oriented as its predecessor ( Tomorrow never dies).
Pierce had a great Chemistry with Sophie Marceau they looked like there was really something special between them and that chemistry gives the extra punch fir their last scene together when she tells him you can't shoot you wouldn't miss me.
Denisse Richards( Christmas Jones) its a character we could have lived without but serves to give this film the classic Bond ending and I wouldn't like a Pierce Bond film. Where doesn't end up with the Bond girl at the end.
I'ts a 10/10 for me
Decided to kick back and watch TWINE. Hadn't seen it in years. Later Brosnan is a real blind spot for me.
TWINE could have been Bronsnan's dark and tragic film. Elements of it survive - but the makers don't quite have the hutzpah to follow through, instead hedging their bets with traditional elements such as fighting a villain over a nuclear threat in the climax followed by explosions, gadget laden Q scenes and the introduction of R (if they had dialled back Cleese a little on his performance he could have worked - his immediate antagonism toward Bond feels forced and predictable. His delivery in his final scene when he shuts the heat sensor computer down is the right level of performance rather than his broad comedy.)
Robbie Coltrane is a welcome presence - his role works as comic relief but also an untrustworthy element - he could help or betray Bond. He is an opportunist and this makes him dangerous because his allegiances can be easily swayed through simple profit. His vivacious demeanour means he is like a Kerim Bey, Colombo or Draco and he has good chemistry with Brosnan.
Robert Carlyle is excellent as Renard. A tragic figure - the one-two punch with Marceau's Elektra is unusual for the series and the best combination of villains in the Brosnan era. It's actually their backstory which lends the weight of any real emotion in the film. His first clash with Bond is very good. Both in dialogue and suspense. Although Renard's actual introduction is a little ordinary. Reminiscent of Alec Trevalyan emerging from the shadows in Goldeneye and given the old 'kill-the-other-guy' trick so popular with Spectre in the 60s. Carlyle is nuanced in his performance, and believably ready to embrace death. Misunderstood and mistreated even by his accomplice Elektra. He is a unique Bond villain.
Denise Richard is miscast - but the role isn't that awful. I think if you put Rosamund Pike in this role (and some less spring-break/tomb raider clothing) she could have been decent. Especially if they'd given her a couple of things to do that require expertise and ratcheted up the tension - in the submarine or chasing the bomb in the pipeline. There's a line that hints at how they could have expanded on her character - Bond asks - 'What's your story? What are you doing here in Kazakhstan?' and she says - 'Avoiding those kind of questions just like you.' This suggests a past and as far as I can tell, it is never expanded on. It wouldn't have been difficult to tie something in with her past and her current job. So that there was a purpose and drive to her character. But Christmas Jones existence is problematic for the Brosnan 'dark and tragic film' I suggested it could have been...
Because the real missed opportunity here is for Bronsnan to have his own Vesper Lynd character in Elektra King. The idea that Bond is fooled and seduced is actually quite well played - even if the fact she is the true villain is telegraphed a little in the dialogue early on between the two. Elektra is a damaged woman in the Fleming tradition. Her Patty Hearst style kidnapping and conversion is a good departure for the series. Brosnan's interactions with her are when his acting is at his best. His reaction when Renard repeats the line she said earlier is among his finest work. Often an uncertain, surprised Bond is the actor's best performances - Moore when he gets out of the centrifuge system is desperate and upset even refusing Holly Goodhead's help - uncertain if she had anything to do with what happened. Likewise Dalton's look of venom after Saunders' death as Kara innocently asks whether he had heard from Koskov and he replies 'yeah, I got the message'. And of course many moment's from Craig in Casino Royale but even in Spectre when Blofeld looks up and says 'hello James', he looks shook up and uncertain. It's a great moment. And this is where TWINE works so nicely is these moments. In the gaps of certainty in their relationship. The way Brosnan kills Elektra and then the, frankly disturbing, way he leans over her corpse is an unusual scene - and it doesn't quite work with the surrounding film. But if this had been the thrust of the film - in the same way that Casino Royale has the confrontation with Le Chiffre and then finishes with the betrayal of Vesper - then TWINE would pay off emotionally a bit more. But instead it feels the need to have a traditional Bond versus villain final fight in a nuclear submarine no less. If this sequence had come first - with subtle hints from Renard's behaviour rather than dialogue that things were not quite as they seem then it might have paid off later to have Elektra betray a smitten Bond - so nastily too rather than reluctantly like Vesper did.
Instead the ending with Renard fight, exploded submarine and M tracking Bond with everyone saying '007!' aghast as he makes it with Jones and that final punchline feel like traditional Moore era Bond mixed in with Dalton-esque Elektra double cross and emotional investment between characters. It is an awkward mix - not so much in tone but in delivering audience satisfaction.
Aside from the boat chase PTS - the action in this film is largely forgettable. Although the tension as Brosnan meets Renard for the first time, then chases him through the tunnel and then retreat on the chain swing with Christmas Jones opening and closing doors is the best suspense sequence in the film.
Brosnan-era more than any other seemed plagued by pandering to the U.S. Market with its casting of Teri Hatcher, Denise Richards and Halle Berry in three successive films. The Bond leading women from America - Jill St John to Lois Chiles to Tanya Roberts and Carey Lowell have always been a little bland for the Bond series. And this mixed with traditional elements of Q and gadgets and dodgy puns and traditional endings meant that Brosnan's era is more a patchwork of Bond than something trying to strike out on its own like Craig or Dalton. Brosnan himself often talked about wanting to do a tougher Bond film and this film - above all his other 007 adventures would seem the best fit for that. The filmmakers would have been better served to follow their instincts and make a harder edged Bond. It didn't need to be brutal and dark like LTK or physical and rebooted like Casino Royale. TWINE could easily have played to Brosnan's strengths within his portrayal of Bond.
Overall I think it's the most interesting of Brosnan era Bond films - although far from his most successful. Goldeneye still has this beat for me by some margin for entertainment and suspense. But The World Is Not Enough has in it a blue print for how they would approach future films in the Craig-era - personal stories with M also having a personal investment in the mission and seeing Bond's morality and emotions being tested. But TWINE only flirts with these concepts rather than fully committing to them.
To start out with the positives, I quite liked Elektra king as the main villain. I felt her motivation was understandable, she had an interesting character dynamic and I think she was very well executed as a whole. I quite liked Renard as the main henchmen and felt he was evil enough but I also liked his whole "I'll do whatever until I die" mentality and I did find his condition to be rather intriguing for a bond henchmen and was surprised at how much depth he had, he just feels like the one who is such an asshole that you want to just punch in the face, and the extra layers on him such as his emotion he feel when bond tells him elektra as dead, the smug look when talking to bond in the silo and the vengefulness he has the whole time is just really good and I feel does not get enough credit. Another positive is the introduction of John Cleese as the successor to Desmond's Q (more on him in a bit), I feel that Cleese's character has just the right amount of wit about him and I love that he doesn't take Bond's crap.
Another aspect I liked very much was M's involvement in the plot, while I generally don't like M being involved in a bond film's plot to much, I feel here it was executed quite well and Judi Dench plays the personal angle between her, Elektra and Renard very good. Another positive here is the return of Robbie Coltrane as Valentin Zukovsky, I think that Zukovsky is even better here than in GE as not only does he play more of a great ally in this movie but he also is rather serious while being the laughing mobster we know and love from GE. This film imo has Brosnan's Best wardrobe without question, the amount of class in his suits is outstanding.
Speaking of brosnan, he doesn't disappoint here as he delivers yet another great performance as Bond here. The score by David Arnold is great here and really adds a lot to the film and of course the action is very good as per usual. Now last but not least I have to mention the sendoff for Q, now while when the movie came out Desmond had no plans to retire, I feel that the sendoff was emotional and probably the best way to send off the iconic character who's loved by many, Desmond was a legend and his legacy lives on
Now as for the negatives, well one minor issue I have is that there is a bit to many henchmen, I mean you have Davidov, Gabor, and bullion all of which barely get any time to develop and gabor himself seemingly disappears until minutes before his death. I also feel that the Bond girls are severely underdeveloped with the exception of Elektra, so Christmas Jones doesn't have much development and Dr. Warmflash is only there to be shagged by Bond which is just unfortunate. Another issue I have is the pacing here isn't quite as good as the previous two films and as a whole the movie feels slower which is unfortunate. Another issue I have is that Bond is constantly getting his ass beat in fights which like I mentioned in my TND review isn't good considering how good he was in GE, though here he is injured so it at least makes sense.
Another problem I have is I feel renard's death is just bad, not because of how he died but how it was done, see Bond got his ass beat badly and then he essentially pushed 1 button to kill renard which imo is total BS. I feel that Bond also stumbles himself into making stupid decisions in the film such as not killing renard in the silo when he had all the time in the world. And my biggest complaint with this movie is without a doubt Brosnan's constant dramatization of events, now it's a great performance overall but what I mean is that Bond here is extremely Moody for no real reason and it's kind of annoying much like Dalton's constant being a dick attitude in LTK.
But as a whole this movie is pretty good and fun to watch. While I think it's Brosnan's weakest film without question, it's still another strong Bond film and is a good watch imo
My final rating is an 8.5/10
Watching the film this time I was struck by how much they were trying to push the envelope with the formula here. TWINE was a reaction by the producers and Brosnan (who now had some clout with 2 successful Bond movies behind him!) to take Bond back to his earlier days. Tomorrow Never Dies had a shoot'em up ending with much machine gun fire. Gone was the thoughtful agent who needed his wits to get out of scrapes. TWINE was an attempt to get some of that back.
The producers chose a director known more for his character development and story telling then his action scenes and big explosions. Michael Apted does a nice job with what he is given. Which is to say that Purvis and Wade have been enlisted as screenwriters and while they do some neat things with the story. Some of it is dreadful stuff.
The PTS is usually a highlight. According to Apted the early cut of the film had the PTS ending at the Spain banker scene. However it was decided that it wasn't big enough for a PTS. Apted decided to include all the boat chase in the PTS and as a result we have the longest PTS in the history of the series. I am not sure that I agree with the decision. The deleted scenes show that we could have seen some wonderful dialogue between Dench and Brosnan. However it is a thrilling sequence, but it is missing the big set piece or stunt that PTS had come to be known as.
I love the song and the soundtrack of this movie. Arnold supplies the right amount of gusto and panache. Garbage does a wonderful job on the theme song. Love it!
As for the movie itself, I would say that the producers succeeding in humanizing their agent. Bond is vulnerable and often times thinking up things has he goes. Pierce seems to relish this and we get a good performance out of him. I enjoy the performance and find him to be comfortable in the skin of Bond.
The villains are a mixed bag. I really enjoy Marceau and the tone of Electra. You really see how Bond would fall for her timid and tortured soul. Then when the reveal happens she plays the villainy with a great relish. You really hate her when she meets her end. The movie suffers when she is killed and since the climax happens after her death the ending feels anti-climatic. I am not a fan of Carlyle as Renard. The concept is well done and rather interesting. However his portrayal of this man who feels nothing seems flat and lifeless. Also the fight between him and Bond at the end defies logic to me. Renard is much smaller then Bond and yet he quickly gains the upper hand. Doesn't ring true and may contribute to the anti-climax of the ending of the movie.
Dench is a delight with an expanded role and does a nice job in her scenes with Bond and Electra. We see another side of her in this film and the relationship between her and Bond seems to be evolving.
Denise Richards is a little too young for Pierce and I don't really get a sense of chemistry between the two. Not that there is much romance written into the story. Because Electra is the love interest for most of the movie Bond and Jones don't really have much time to be romantic. When she says "someone is going to have my ass" and Bond replies "First things first..." it's cute but seems creepy. I would either have a more age appropriate actress. Think Rene Russo from Thomas Crown Affair.
I really enjoyed this recent viewing of TWINE. It delivers action while telling an unusual story for a Bond movie. The thinking Bond is back, and while there are gadgets they don't overwhelm the character or the action.
After the action-fest of Tomorrow Never Dies, the producers hired director Michael Apted, a man known for TV documentaries (the Up series) and Oscar-baity dramas (Gorillas in the Mist, Nell). Presumably, the idea was to put more focus on character-depth and performances, but even Apted couldn't make a convincing nucleair physicist out of Denise Richards.
It also becomes blatantly clear that Apted couldn't direct an action scene if his career depended on it (which it kinda did): he keeps cutting from close-ups that are too close to tell what's going on to wide shots that are so wide they take you out of the excitement. It doesn't help that a lot of the action feels forced: in an effort to come up with stuff that hasn't been done before in a Bond movie, the writers really strained themselves (helicopters with chainsaws???).
A large draw of the Bond movies are the exotic locations. Previously, Bond has had adventures near the pyramids of Giza, at the top of the Eiffel Tower, or on the Orient Express. Here, the locations are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and the shores of the Caspian Sea.
I'm sure these are all nice places with friendly people, but not quite the dream holiday destinations for most. What's worse is that the filmmakers don't really go there: it's all stock footage and second unit shots, while a lot of the movie was actually filmed in Wales.
This is another part where Michael Apted's lack of visual acuity comes into play: a better director might have been able to convince us the characters are where we are told they are, but he keeps cutting from exterior location shots to studio interiors in a way that is obvious and noticeable, and, instead of an epic globe-spanning adventure, it all starts to feel like TV soap-opera.
There's a moment late in the film where Bond jumps from the top of a tower to a submerging submarine that's supposed to be spectacular, but it's so evident that the start of the dive and the end of the dive were filmed in two different places, it becomes risible. There's no attempt to match the two locations or to previously establish the submarine in front of the tower so viewers could have a sense of the geography.
After all that, it's should come as no surprise that the climax is a lacklustre retread of the kind of Bond finale we've seen a dozen times before.
This is the weakest of the Brosnan Bond movies - up until now...