Goldeneye (1995)

The graphic violence of "License to kill" had killed Bond at the box-office, and it would take an unprecedented six years before 007 was to appear again. When he did it was in a most familiar way. A stealthy sneak-in, followed by an exploding exit. The problem is, the intro alone tells us Martin Campbell is going to struggle to find his theme in the following two hours.

Brosnan was expected to play Bond 20 years earlier but was denied by his producers, as he had signed a long term contract for the piece of shit that was "Remington Steele". He tries very hard to balance the comical wit of Moore, the cold and calm Connery, and the passion of the Dalton. He doesn't really make it all the way there, but it's not all his fault and his attempt is a good one.

Famke Janssen is a vicious and entertaining flirt, but her sexual arousal whenever there's death involved is just daft and probably designed to prey at 15 year old boys. I hate marketing. Dench is a stroke of genius though, and naturally the exceptionally and continually underrated Sean Bean delivers. Joe Don Baker is much better as a surly but jovial CIA-operative than he was as a barking mad weapons-dealer, and Alan Cumming not without entertainment value. Was ever Robbie Coltrane miscast? Doubt it. Scorupco isn't bad but her screaming is better left to Jamie Lee Curtis. With a cast more British than the Harry Potter-franchise, it is a strange thing to hear all speak "russio-anglo".

They do make an effort to bring the franchise back after its financial demise from the 80's. The original car is there. The Bollinger. the introduction, the vodka martini, M, Q, the card games, the wonderful sparring with Moneypenny (the best in decades here, with Samantha Bond). They did fuck up and give him a BMW to make some sponsor money, though. Perhaps a bit obvious all in all, but you have to admire the effort.

So the nostalgia is total, the action decent, the stunts a bit over the top and the tension restricted to one scene. Serra's score is (apart from the variations on existing themes) nothing short of an aberration, and all in all Bond is back the way the masses seem to want him. The biggest problem is, still, that they fail to put the pieces together for a continuing theme. At times it's quite serious, other times more cartoonish. It's still not the worst in that respect by far though. And there is full score for effort, and bonus points for the fight scenes between Brosnan and Bean.

7/10

Best car used: 1965 Aston Martin DB5
Most memorable drink served: Bollinger 1988
Henchmen: Famke Janssen as Xenia Onatopp. The second girl in the franchise to kill men by smothering them with her thighs. And it wasn't clever the first time.
Villain: Alec Trevelyan/006 - Sean Bean as a Cossack hating his queen.
Best one-liner: "The writing's on the wall". So good even Q appreciates it.
Song: "Goldeneye". Written by Bono and performed by Tina Turner. Unsurprisingly uninteresting. There are some decent strings, though.
Bond-girl: Izabella Scorupco as Natalya Simonova