Ricky Church continues his countdown to Spectre with a review of GoldenEye…
Between 1989 and 1995 the Bond franchise was in limbo due to a changed world. The Soviet Union had collapsed and the Berlin Wall came down, effectively ending the Cold War. Between those were legal troubles with MGM, owner of Bond distributor United Artists, and producer Albert R. Broccoli, the man who owned the Bond film rights and been involved with the series since its inception in 1962. This resulted in Timothy Dalton leaving the series and putting the next Bond movie in development hell. Given all these circumstances, people asked the question: was James Bond 007 even relevant anymore?
Bond’s boss M, now played by Judi Dench, directly addresses this question as she calls him “a sexist, misogynistic dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War”, in GoldenEye. Yet even still, the world needs its most famous secret agent as Bond has to track down the people who stole the keys to an old and powerful Russian satellite before it can be turned against an unsuspecting country.
Pierce Brosnan, who almost got the part of Bond after Roger Moore departed before NBC decided to renew Remington Steele for a final season, gets his chance to play Bond and does a great job. He’s a mix of Connery’s cold professionalism and Moore’s humour, but is thankfully much closer to Connery’s performance than Moore’s. Brosnan’s wit is matched by his skill and, unlike Moore, he’s very charismatic in Bond’s shoes.
Brosnan also shows a vulnerable side to Bond, but unlike Lazenby and Dalton’s Bonds, where they each suffered a personal loss, Brosnan must deal with a personal betrayal. This is where Sean Bean comes in as Alec Trevelyan, formerly known as 006. Bean is the most charismatic Bond villain in the series in a long while. Bean’s Trevelyan is depicted as the dark mirror image of Bond and the actor absolutely shines in the role. He’s a different kind of villain simply because of his relationship to Bond and, unlike many other villains, his plot revolves more around revenge and monetary gain than world domination. It also helps that Brosnan and Bean have a great onscreen chemistry, making their rivalry a tragic one.
The supporting cast is strong all around. Izabella Scorupco is the main Bond girl, computer programmer Natalya Simonova, and makes for a good Bond girl. A notable aspect of GoldenEye is her independence as she spends the first half of the movie fending for herself and is a great help to Bond, hardly ever needing to be rescued. Famke Janssen is Trevelyan’s main henchwoman and steals the show in some scenes due to her over-the-top violent (and erotic) nature as Xenia Onatopp. Gottfried John is an adequate secondary villain while Joe Don Baker and Alan Cumming round out the cast as the comic relief, though Cumming’s role as Boris is hit-and-miss with most fans. It should be noted that Judi Dench makes an excellent M in just a few scenes. It is no wonder why she would eventually be kept on when they rebooted the series with Daniel Craig.
The action is this movie is absolutely great. This is one of the most action packed Bond films in the whole series with the tank chase being one of Bond’s most memorable set pieces. Actually filmed in St. Petersburg, several people called the police to notify them a tank was running around through the city, unaware there was a movie being filmed. While its somewhat upsetting not to see a traditional Bond car used, the tank more than makes up for it.
GoldenEye is a great Bond film that has some intriguing character development for Bond as it examines whether the character can retain his relevancy. While Pierce Brosnan makes a few Roger Moore-like quips, he’s still a good Bond as he displays his cold and vulnerable demeanor throughout the film. With an outstanding cast, personal plot and great action beats, as well as one of the most classic video games ever made, GoldenEye is definitely one of James Bond’s greatest adventures.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Ricky Church
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=Yo85WjqklYY
Originally published October 27, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.
