James Bond 007 - Goldeneye

...last time we saw Bond, James Bond was in License To Kill back in 1989, then an overly long legal case effectively took James' license until Goldeneye brought the series back to life in 1995, the long duration between Bond movies. Not only had it been a while, but the actor (Timothy Dalton) had also changed (Dalton gave up the role) giving James another face. This time it was Irishman Pierce Brosnan (Mrs Doubtfire) who would fill the infamous dinner ...
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It wasn't just James that had changed of course, the western world no longer had the threat of the USSR bearing over it (the USSR disbanded effectively broke in 1991 for those unaware) and the dividing wall had come down, just like the curtain. Germany was made a single unified country in late 1990 so no longer was their suspicion there either. Bond had lost his most fierce enemy, imagine Dr Who without the Daleks, this was sadly the situation ... more

The wall was down, the war was over, the need for spies? They were still there.

The last time we saw Bond, James Bond was in License To Kill back in 1989, then an overly long legal case effectively took James' license until Goldeneye brought the series back to life in 1995, the long duration between Bond movies. Not only had it been a while, but the actor (Timothy Dalton) had also changed (Dalton gave up the role) giving James another face. This time it was Irishman Pierce Brosnan (Mrs Doubtfire) who would fill the infamous dinner suit in the role previously held by Sean Connery and Roger Moore.

It wasn't just James that had changed of course, the western world no longer had the threat of the USSR bearing over it (the USSR disbanded effectively broke in 1991 for those unaware) and the dividing wall had come down, just like the curtain. Germany was made a single unified country in late 1990 so no longer was their suspicion there either. Bond had lost his most fierce enemy, imagine Dr Who without the Daleks, this was sadly the situation for the Bond franchise due to the real world situation. So before anything else there had to be a new enemy, no serious Bond fan would be taken to him play a role that had no relevance to the real world situation(oddly the franchise did try a totally unrealistic approach in Die Another Day a movie that fans have despised).
So when it came to 1995 Bond's reinvention had to be big enough to distance it's self from the Soviet inspired movies such as “The Living Daylights”, “For Your Eyes Only” and “The Spy Who Loved Me”. However the decline of the Union did obviously lead to some new avenues, former Soviet followers, the remnants of the communist Army, the confusion through out much of Eastern Europe and the the distrust of those from the former Union. This backdrop was effectively the source of the Goldeneye story.

Starting in 1986 with a prologue to set the story for the majority of the movie we see Bond infiltrate a Soviet chemical weapons facility with the idea to sabotage the experiments with explosives. Meeting up with fellow 00 agent Alec Trevelyan (played by the always excellent Sean Bean-Sharpe, Lord of The Rings, Equilibrium) who had previously infiltrated the area and was waiting for his back up (Bond) to deliver the needed explosives. This goes wrong and the plot is foiled as they trip an alarm and soldiers pour in to stop the destruction, the scene introduces another of the key characters, a Soviet General Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov (played by German actor Gottfried John).

Fast forward 9 years to 1995 and a mysterious crime syndicate going by the name of Janus had started to commit crimes in Russia, then spreading to Europe. They had been a well disguised unit that had been all but hidden in identity, Ourumov was thought to be the leader with Xenia Onatopp (played by the gorgeous Famke Janssen-The Faculty, X Men) a former fighter pilot as his right hand man (or should that be woman?). The first major crime we are privy to is the stealing of the Tiger helicopter, a chopper that isn't damaged in any way by electronic weapons, making it an ideal weapon to work in cahoots with Janus' secret weapon, the GoldenEye.

With Ourumov rising from Colonel to General in the intermediary time between 86 and the time of the movie he had been put in charge of the Severnaya satellite control centre in Serbia With this base still running during the movie, he had access to it, and it's powerful secrets. The access code to the GoldenEye weapon and EMP weapon that targets electronics firing a large Electric Magnetic Pulse. With the help of computer whiz Boris Grishenko (Alan Cumming- Spice World, Son of Mask) Janus' inside man at the Centre safe, Xenia goes on a killing spree before they order the weapon to fire on Servernaya area destroying the evidence it was ever there. However in their haste to get away they leave Natalya Simonova alive (with out realising she was) and she as the lone insider has the role of being the proverbial piggy in the middle with a race between Janus and Bond to get a hold of her. Played by Izabella Scorupco who seems to be one of the actresses who did little of note before this, and little after this aside from Reign Of Fire.

The final acting talent of note plays Bond's boss, “M” in one the hugest changes in the franchise we were introduced to a female “M” to oppose the chauvinistic Bond. Played by the timelessly talented Dame Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love, 84 Charing Cross Road, A Handful of Dust), who plays a strong feminist leader of MI6 as only she possibly could.

Under instruction of M 007 is sent to investigate the destruction in Serbia which took out MI6's satellites for the area. Bond is linked up to meet American Jack Wade (Joe Don Baker who had oddly played a Bond enemy in The Living Daylights as an arms dealer) who in turn puts him on to Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky (Robbie Coltrane- Harry potter series) a Russian Mafia man who had had previous with Bond (James had shot him in the leg). Valentin helps set up a meeting with Bond and the story from there excels into an excellent saga of backstabbing and twists at a wonderful pace that seems to run brilliantly smoothly and almost makes you forget that it's no longer the “Soviets” who are enemies but those with links to the Soviets, the splinters of the former rulers.

The story is excellent and the way it turns in the middle is a brilliant twist that I personally never saw coming (though when I first saw the movie I was about 11 and adult movies were quite new to me). The pace throughout starts slowly and picks up wonderfully, with a mix of action (a tank chase through the streets of Moscow is a huge highlight as Bond chases Ourumov with slight comic relief), tension (a scene on a Russian arms train provides heart racing tension and gets the blood flowing like any Bond movie should). The flat out sexiness of the stunning Famke Janssen is doubled by her erotic femme fatale lust for blood and killing, the murder or a Canadian Captain between her thighs is one of the raunchiest things in any Bond movie.

The movie is a bit darker than most of the movies (not quite as dark as License to Kill with it's grit that has only recently been surpassed) in the series and this appeals wonderfully in regards to the almost comic relief of several of Moores movies in 70's where the movies almost became parodies of themselves. The grit and determination of Brosnan as Bond is a slight step down from Dalton who played an edgier Bond than any of the other actors, but it's just about as intense as needs be.

The theme song by Tina Turner “Goldeneye” was written by Bono and The Edge (of U2 fame) though other than that little of the musical content of the movie is memorable, leading more to the actors taking the movie rather than clever musical scores of some of the past movies. Many critics took a huge dislike to the score, though personally despite it not being memorable, it wasn't dreadful enough to hate.

The movie despite it's brilliance it however missing something, mainly the gadgets, which seemed rather limited in use. The main uses are of the Piton Belt, the BMW Z3 (which apparently was one of the most marketable product placement sin movie history) which Bond basically gives to Wade in exchange for a bi-plane, a pen with an inbuilt grenade and of course the Rolex watch which is used with an internal laser at the end of the train section.

One thing to note was after this movie, it would be 11 years to the next good Bond movie, as the remaining movies of Brosnan's seemed to take the series backwards culminating in the dreadful Die Another Day which tried hard to be an American action movie as opposed to James Bond movie. CGI became the word of the day and movie completely bombed with fans of the series, thankfully however in recent movies (Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace) they seem to have gotten back to the standard of Goldeneye. A dark Bond with a good storyline, a good twist, and a Bond baddie that every fan will be fantasising about for a while, sadly perhaps the gadgets were almost given a back seat to Brosnan, Bean and Janssen, though they may have stolen the show anyway.  

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