Review of GoldenEye (1995) by Luis G — 12 Feb 2012

#3 GoldenEye.

This is Pierce Bronson's first outing as 007 & his best effort. Bronson came in after two stiff & bland performances from Timothy Dalton (the living daylights & licence to kill). Not that Dalton was bad but the cinema wasn't ready for a serious "Bourne" type Bond...at least not yet. I actually liked "License to Kill", it barely missed my top 5. Anywhooo, GoldenEye pits Bond up against 006, Alec Trevelyn (Sean Bean) . 006 wants to send London back to stone age by setting off a massive EMP pulse sent by the "GoldenEye" satalite weapon & ofcoors, its up to Bond to stop him. I always thought of Bronson's version of 007 as a much better version of Roger Moore's 007. Suave, stylish, cunning & believable, unlike Moore in his latter yrs. What makes "GoldenEye" unique is the introduction of a female head of MI6, Dame Judi Dench, a much welcome addition to the Bond Franchise that still holds up leading to this Fall's "007 in Skyfall". "GoldenEye", by far, features two of the best villians he ever faced, a former double 0 & a female assassin named "Xena Onatopp". Sean Bean as the traitor 006 is excellant in his performance & Famke Janson as "Xena" is a hoooot watching her get her "kicks" when she excutes her victims . All in all, the Bronson 007 era was a very memorable one. It kicked off many firsts with each entry (Tomorrow Never Dies, World is Not Enough, Die Another Day) but "GoldenEye" is the one that kicked Bond into the modern age & it uped the ante with each installement.