GoldenEye (1995)

Genre

Action | Thriller

Director

Martin Campbell

Country

UK

Cast

Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco, Famke Janssen, Joe Don Baker, Judi Dench, Gottfried John, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Cumming, Tchéky Karyo, Desmond Llewelyn, Samantha Bond, Minnie Driver, Serena Gordon

Storyline

James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) teams up with the lone survivor (Izabella Scorupco) of a destroyed Russian research center to stop the hijacking of a nuclear space weapon by a fellow agent (Sean Bean) formerly believed to be dead.

Opinion

After the 6 year long break - only a week for me - the producers needed to make a good film, the most famous spy ever is back with a new face, Pierce Brosnan', in "GoldenEye", a surprisingly good entry in the franchise.

The plot involves the Russians - why doesn't that surprise me? - but probably for the first time it doesn't have the Cold War to fuel the storyline, and allows the film to step into new territories, the post-Communist Russia after the dissolution of the USSR. The Cold War was over so it was essential to find new plot elements.

Of course it was essential to find a new enemy as well, and here comes Alec Trevelyan, a former MI6 agent who has sworn revenge on the country that was responsible for his parents' suicide, Great Britain.

Also the film has a more modern appearance: the unforgettable Aston Martin has been replaced by a beautiful BMW - I'm glad that happened because when talking cars, Germans do it better - and the role of M is for the first time given to a woman, brilliantly portrayed by Judi Dench.

Like most films, "GoldenEye" does have its downs. The film is considerably increased in action and adrenaline, and while most will enjoy this new feature, I didn't because the spy story kind of takes a back seat. And I have mixed feelings about the Bond girls. Natalya Semyonova is a pleasing and resourceful character, but Xenia Onatopp, the bad one, is quite annoying.

As for the acting, Pierce Brosnan portrays James Bond amazingly well; he's witty, charming and he looks freaking good in a suit, Sean Bean does a wonderful job as Alec Trevelyan, and he's probably one of the best villains in the series, Famke Janssen also does a good job as Xenia Onatopp, but Alan Cumming is irritating as he uses every nerdy cliché possible.