The World is Not Enough is formulaic and preposterous. What else is new? Half of the fun of watching James Bond movies, even serious ones like From Russia With Love, is seeing what outlandish ways 007 (Pierce Brosnan) will cheat death and attract babes. This time everyone’s favorite MI6 agent has the formidable task of defending an oil tycoon’s heiress (Sophie Marceau) from a unique terrorist.

It seems the cad Renard (Robert Carlyle, The Full Monty) carries a bullet in his head that makes him impervious to pain. All of this leads to a rather run-of-the-mill adventure with typically outlandish-but-spectacular stunts and a convoluted story. The malaise is not helped by a hilariously inept performance by Denise Richards (Wild Things) as a nuclear scientist (on a good day she might be able to pronounce “nuclear”) and workman-like direction by Michael Apted (Nell). When Bond movies have a good twist to go with the gimmicks (like Michelle Yeoh’s delightful turn in Tomorrow Never Dies), they can be great. Otherwise, even adventure can be just a job. (PG-13).

........................................................................................................