Brimming with lavishly mounted and inventively staged action sequences -- not to mention beautiful women and exotic locations -- the 19th James Bond film ranks among the series' best. Pierce Brosnan, playing 007 for the third time, seems quite comfortable in Bond's skin: He trades bullets, quips, and kisses with supreme self-assuredness. The plot, characteristically simplistic but unusually credible, has terrorist Robert Carlyle threatening to nuke a pipeline that would link oil-rich Azerbaijan to Europe. Director Michael Apted (42 Up) augments breathtaking action set pieces (including a speedboat chase on the Thames) with stunning visuals, not the least of which are sultry Sophie Marceau and super-curvaceous Denise Richards. The regal Judi Dench returns as intelligence chief M, and the late series regular Desmond Llewelyn makes his final appearance as gadget master Q. Surpassing the expectations of Bond devotees while subtly updating the series' conventions to reflect post-cold war realities, World powerfully demonstrates the continuing appeal of this venerable movie franchise.
