It's the 1990s, the Cold War is over, and Pierce Brosnan is James Bond in
GOLDENEYE, in which Bond tracks a stolen helicopter and ends up stumbling on a much larger villainous plot - one backed by a vengeful former ally.
A six year gap after Licence to Kill was the longest gap we've had in the Bond franchise so far. By the time we come back, Pierce Brosnan has taken up the reins. No doubt about it, Brosnan has a great face. I like him immediately, and he's suitably badass in his opening scenes (even when he jumps the shark in his first cold open with that freefall plane rescue). The plot for this movie was written - I think - while Dalton was still attached, so it has a really dark tone (I think it holds the record for kills by Bond, he mows em down like weeds in this one) - but Brosnan is less tortured and more suave than Dalton - meaning what we get here is kind of a great amalgamation of the previous few Bonds. Brosnan feels like a return to the suaveness of Moore but with a little more smirk. It's a good mix.
Sean Bean stands in as the villain, and I like his take. He doesn't show up til well over the halfway point (other than his fake death in the cold open) - it's a good reveal, and his revenge plot might be one of the best and most unique villain motivations we've seen in the series yet. His other plan - to steal loads of money and drop an EMP on London - doesn't even get fully fleshed out til about 10 minutes to go, so it's a real afterthought - but that's okay. He's interesting enough, and the rest of the movie carries itself. The plot stalls a little bit in the middle, but not only does it clip along pretty briskly most of the time, I feel like moving into the mid-90s really jumped up the quality of cinematography. It feels more like an action movie in places, and as long as they counterbalance that with enough spycraft, it keeps that pacing moving right along.
Observations -
- Some other great performances in this movie. Nerdy Nightcrawler, Russian Hagrid, Killer-Sadist-Masochist-Nympho Jean Grey, Evil Boromir - all splendid
- We see another instance of a previously cast actor coming back in a different role. Way back in the 60s we had one guy who played a (minor) Bond ally come back in the next movie to play Blofeld - here we have one of the bad guys from Living Daylights come back as a Bond ally. Bold casting!
- A new SAUCY Moneypenny - I like her - and what can be said about Judi Dench's M that hasn't already been said? Golden. And God Bless good ol Desmond Llewelyn still holding the fort as Q.
- Also in the 1990s, we become even MORE coy with Bond Bonks. I have to really do some more interpreting of if a scene really implies a bonk. I think though - maybe I'm generous but - I think a case could be made for 3 bonks with 2 women here, so I'm going to call it there with 50 bonks with 39 women overall (crossing that big 50 threshold!!)
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