James Bond Retrospective: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The Bond Villain 
The lead villain in Tomorrow Never Dies proves to be one of the weakest bad guys in the series history. While grounded in reality and based on media moguls in the Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch mould, the egomaniacal Elliot Carver is brought to life by Jonathan Pryce but is portrayed as a rather camp, comic book villain whose plot to dominate the worlds media by creating the news is also weak in comparison to other Bond adversaries. Even by todays standards where the media has been vilified and subject to inquiries into wrongdoing it is not the most satisfactory opponent in the world of Bond. Carver is detestable, not necessarily for his schemes but for his narcissistic manner and terrible dialogue. Expressing his pleasure after the successful conclusion of the first stage of his plan with the words delicious is cringe worthy and during his scenes where he comes face to face with Bond he becomes almost a parody of the Bond villain cliché explaining his plans in detail rather than doing away with Bond when he has the chance. With the film going into production without a finished script and Jonathan Pryce reportedly keen for a number of his scenes to be rewritten this may explain why Carver is a poorly written character and ultimately something of a disappointment with even his henchmen unable to save the day for the villains. 
The lead henchman is yet another entry in the series that follows the archetypal standard of Red Grant in From Russia With Love. Mr. Stamper is Carvers 6 foot plus, bleach-blonde aide with a passion for chakra torture played by German actor Gotz Otto, who would go on to have roles in Downfall and most recently, Iron Sky. As is the case with Carver, Stampers role is slightly diminished by dialogue that is a little too self knowing and he is blighted by being made to seem like a caricature of audience expectations for a Bond henchman. 
Similarly Carvers IT technician, Mr. Gupta (Ricky Jay) is another thinly drawn character. The overweight techno-terrorist provides a functional role in ensuring that the various technological tasks he is called upon to perform are explained away without any thought for plausibility. He is a relatively bland character who as a result poses little threat and proves himself to be easily expendable. 
The one henchman who does make a good impression is sadly on-screen for the shortest amount of time. Dr. Kaufmann, Carvers assassin and Stampers mentor is an excellent character who not only provides a good deal of humour in his only scene, he also has a sinister edge lacking from the main villains of the film. 
With Tomorrow Never Dies, the old adage that Bond girls are purely to provide a touch of sex, glamour and little else to proceedings is blown out of the water. The casting of Chinese action star Michelle Yeoh put an end to such narrow-minded views on the position of females in the Bond films. At the time relatively unknown outside China, Yeoh had forged a successful career starring in Hong Kong action films such as Police Story 3: Supercop and The Heroic Trio. With her devotion to her art performing many of her fight and stunt scenes herself she went on to be dubbed the female Jackie Chan. As Chinese agent, Wai Lin, Yeoh brings much of her style and commitment to action to the film setting her apart from any of Bonds companions in the series so far. While still providing the requisite beauty expected of a Bond girl, she is also smart, quick witted and has an agility that has rarely been seen in the franchise before. If you compare the moment in The Man With The Golden Gun where Bond takes on an entire school of karate experts with the scene in Wai Lins hideout where she single-handedly foils an attack by countless kung-fu villains; the sheer pace and meticulous choreography of the set piece puts the Roger Moore scene to shame. 
Wai Lin manages to outshine Bond throughout their scenes together. Her character is essentially the female equivalent of Bond working for the Chinese government but her intelligence and legerity makes Bond look quite stiff by comparison. 
The secondary Bond girl of the film adds an interesting dynamic that is sadly underdeveloped. Paris Carver, Elliot Carvers wife, is also purported to be an old flame of Bond giving them an assumed history and bringing out a different side to Bond where he is called to justify unseen events from his past allowing further deconstruction of his character. Despite Paris never having featured in the series before it is implied that she was once an integral part of Bonds life and their reunion is enough to drive Bond to drink.
The lead villain in Tomorrow Never Dies proves to be one of the weakest bad guys in the series history. While grounded in reality and based on media moguls in the Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch mould, the egomaniacal Elliot Carver is brought to life by Jonathan Pryce but is portrayed as a rather camp, comic book villain whose plot to dominate the worlds media by creating the news is also weak in comparison to other Bond adversaries. Even by todays standards where the media has been vilified and subject to inquiries into wrongdoing it is not the most satisfactory opponent in the world of Bond. Carver is detestable, not necessarily for his schemes but for his narcissistic manner and terrible dialogue. Expressing his pleasure after the successful conclusion of the first stage of his plan with the words delicious is cringe worthy and during his scenes where he comes face to face with Bond he becomes almost a parody of the Bond villain cliché explaining his plans in detail rather than doing away with Bond when he has the chance. With the film going into production without a finished script and Jonathan Pryce reportedly keen for a number of his scenes to be rewritten this may explain why Carver is a poorly written character and ultimately something of a disappointment with even his henchmen unable to save the day for the villains. The lead henchman is yet another entry in the series that follows the archetypal standard of Red Grant in From Russia With Love. Mr. Stamper is Carvers 6 foot plus, bleach-blonde aide with a passion for chakra torture played by German actor Gotz Otto, who would go on to have roles in Downfall and most recently, Iron Sky. As is the case with Carver, Stampers role is slightly diminished by dialogue that is a little too self knowing and he is blighted by being made to seem like a caricature of audience expectations for a Bond henchman. Aside from a final confrontation, Stamper and Bond have few opportunities to meet each other in any kind of physical conflict making Stampers size and appearance essentially irrelevant. Despite his suggested torture methods, which are never actually shown, he has no real unique quality to make him a memorable villain and in conjunction with Carver the pair make for weak opponents to Bond.Classic Line
Mr. Stamper: I owe you an unpleasant death, Mr. Bond.
Similarly Carvers IT technician, Mr. Gupta (Ricky Jay) is another thinly drawn character. The overweight techno-terrorist provides a functional role in ensuring that the various technological tasks he is called upon to perform are explained away without any thought for plausibility. He is a relatively bland character who as a result poses little threat and proves himself to be easily expendable. The one henchman who does make a good impression is sadly on-screen for the shortest amount of time. Dr. Kaufmann, Carvers assassin and Stampers mentor is an excellent character who not only provides a good deal of humour in his only scene, he also has a sinister edge lacking from the main villains of the film. Played by the great character actor Vincent Schiavelli, best known for his break-out performance in One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, he brings his unusual looks and quirky nature to the role making his scene one of the most noteworthy in the film. The Bond GirlClassic Line
James Bond: It wont look like a suicide if you shoot me from over there.
Dr. Kaufmann: I am a professor of forensic medicine. Believe me, Mr. Bond, I could shoot you from Stuttgart and still create the proper effect.
With Tomorrow Never Dies, the old adage that Bond girls are purely to provide a touch of sex, glamour and little else to proceedings is blown out of the water. The casting of Chinese action star Michelle Yeoh put an end to such narrow-minded views on the position of females in the Bond films. At the time relatively unknown outside China, Yeoh had forged a successful career starring in Hong Kong action films such as Police Story 3: Supercop and The Heroic Trio. With her devotion to her art performing many of her fight and stunt scenes herself she went on to be dubbed the female Jackie Chan. As Chinese agent, Wai Lin, Yeoh brings much of her style and commitment to action to the film setting her apart from any of Bonds companions in the series so far. While still providing the requisite beauty expected of a Bond girl, she is also smart, quick witted and has an agility that has rarely been seen in the franchise before. If you compare the moment in The Man With The Golden Gun where Bond takes on an entire school of karate experts with the scene in Wai Lins hideout where she single-handedly foils an attack by countless kung-fu villains; the sheer pace and meticulous choreography of the set piece puts the Roger Moore scene to shame. Wai Lin manages to outshine Bond throughout their scenes together. Her character is essentially the female equivalent of Bond working for the Chinese government but her intelligence and legerity makes Bond look quite stiff by comparison. The secondary Bond girl of the film adds an interesting dynamic that is sadly underdeveloped. Paris Carver, Elliot Carvers wife, is also purported to be an old flame of Bond giving them an assumed history and bringing out a different side to Bond where he is called to justify unseen events from his past allowing further deconstruction of his character. Despite Paris never having featured in the series before it is implied that she was once an integral part of Bonds life and their reunion is enough to drive Bond to drink. Several actresses auditioned for the role including Monica Bellucci and Sela Ward, who was deemed too old despite being three years younger than Brosnan. The role eventually went to Teri Hatcher, who at the time was best known for playing Lois Lane in the nineties television series Lois And Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman. Hatcher and Brosnan share little chemistry making the relationship between Paris and Bond hard to believe which is a shame as this could have marked a return to a side of Bond we have not really seen since the final moments of On Her Majestys Secret Service. Instead, the scene following her inevitable death at the hands of Dr. Kaufmann lacks the raw emotion and vulnerability George Lazenby brought to Bond in 1969.Classic Line
Paris Carver: I used to look in the papers every day for your obituary.
James Bond: Sorry to disappoint.