Review of GoldenEye (1995) by Miroslav G — 01 Jun 2014

After a hiatus lasting six long, agonizing years, the bond franchise returns and in a big way. Goldeneye feels like a throwback to the earlier Bond films, while managing to be innovative at the same time by bringing the series into more of a modern context for its transition into the 21st century.

Director Martin Campbell crafts a fun, humorous, witty, enticing, action-packed Bond adventure with a great and memorable all-around cast; Quite simply, Goldeneye has everything I want to see in a Bond film.

Pierce Brosnan is once again given the chance to play Bond and thankfully was able to take it this time around. Brosnan makes for a great bond, easily the quintessential suave and sophisticated Bond in the series.

Also, Brosnan takes the light-hearted and humorous qualities of Moore and combines them with the fearless and tough qualities of Connery, while adding his own stamp to Bond, making for one of the best portrayals of the character.

Izabella Scorupco as the Bond girl, Natayla Simonova, is great because she's sexy and she can act, holding her own against everyone she encounters and subsequently is one of the best Bond girls in the series.

Sean Bean's Alec Trevelyan makes for an excellent villain, and for the first time in the series do I get the feeling that the villain is truly Bond's equal through Bean, and therefore he can fight toe to toe with Bond and is capable of anticipating his every move (something no villain really quite captured up until this point).

Famke Janssen is also a great side villain as Xenia Onatopp due to her wild, aggressive nature, unique way of killing people with her thighs, and receiving sexual pleasure through killing. The supporting cast is great too: Whether that's Alan Cumming as the funny, Russian computer programmer/henchmen Boris; or Robbie Coltrane as the slightly over the top, yet entertaining Russian mobster Valentin Zukosky.

Desmond Llewelyn once again returns as Q, and once again he's great, bringing some comic relief to the table. And for the first time ever, Judi Dench makes her memorable appearace as M and the scenes that she and Bond share are as tense as they are intriguing.

The action sequences are quite superb, containing arguably the most action out of all the entries in the series and some of the best without ever becoming too over the top or ridiculous. From the opening sequence at the Soviet base to the tank chase, it's all just well-done, and done using miniatures and practical effects before the introduction of poor CGI into series.

For some reason, Goldeneye often gets criticized by fans for being rather formulaic, and for the most part it is, but to me, that doesn't really matter because it follows it so well and uses the formula to its benefit (unlike some other Bond films that lack creative spark, and therefore use the formula as an excuse for their existence in the first place).

Plus, Goldeneye even manages to retain a dark tinge reminiscent of the Dalton era films through its Post-Cold War thriller atmosphere, something I thought the subsequent Brosnan Bond films were missing and would've benefited greatly from.

Goldeneye is among one of the best Bond films in the series and easily the best of the Pierce Brosnan era (as well as my personal favorite and the reason why I'm a fan of the franchise today).