GoldenEye (1995)
Martin Campbell
Darling, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Plenty. You could get hit by a car during your bike ride. At least it would be a Ferrari. Or you could get your toes stepped on during your afternoon promenade in St. Petersburg. By 007. With a tank. Or you could get your train derailed. By 007. With the same tank. Or you could get your Cuban satellite control center blown up while you're simply trying to bank online. By 007. This time bare-handed. The list of possibilities is only limited by the length of the feature.
This Bond is probably one of the most successful sequels ever. Nothing can deter the secret agent -- not the end of the Cold War, not even political correctness. And it's all for the better. Of the three recent incarnations (I am writing this review just weeks after ``The World Is Not Enough''), ``GoldenEye'' is arguably the best. Even during the pre-opening credits sequence, we are treated to a spectacular bungee jump, which is all the more breathtaking once you realize the stunt guy actually plummetted from 640 feet (twice, so the director could get a better shot). Almost immediately Bond literally catches his flight out. Ridiculous? No. Bond.
The story is variations on the old theme, except now James has to contend with a renegade MI-6 agent, who has a bone to grind with the British. The Russians appear as the generally well-meaning but incompetent redshirts with the exception of the usual greedy lot. Not much in terms of originality there, but then again is anyone really following the story when Famke practically has a sadistic orgasm in just about every scene she's in, and Izabella is soooo cute and yummy, you are willing to forgive her definitely non-Russian accent? I thought not. (And for the female readers, we KNOW it's not Pierce's acting performance you like.) So, this James Bond is what any classical Bond has to be: cars, planes, girls, and a tank -- all fast, expensive, and dangerous -- and a villain. James saves the world, gets the girl(s), wreaks general havoc with the help of Q's toys. The music is appropriate, the action incredible, and the movie -- a joy to watch.
The only complaint is about the Special Edition DVD -- the ``Making of'' featurette is way too short albeit informative. However, those jokes at the expense of the CIA or the marines, make we forget all my grievances. 007 + 2 girls out of 10.
December 7, 1999. BLS