ReBONDing: The Brosnan Years Pt. 1
Reevaluating the Brosnan Era (1995 - 2002)
A spark of an idea came to me over my week off from work when Lisa and I were scrolling through the large selection of movies available to watch on HBO GO. Searching A to Z, we weren't finding anything worth watching (the selection at the end of December -- at least in our opinion -- were slim pickings). As I came to the end of the list, I discovered that several James Bond films including some titles that I do not own (for reasons I would rather discuss in a different blog post). Of those Bond titles, three of them were from the Brosnan-era.
When my cursor passed over The World Is Not Enough, I mumbled under my breath, "...of course they have one worst Bond movies available to stream, but where's GoldenEye? Where's Brosnan's best Bond film? Nowhere to be found."
It did seem odd that they only had available three of his four entries as James Bond. I didn't give it much thought after that. Instead, I started stewing over why I had a disconnect with the Brosnan-era. I seemed to remember enjoying Tomorrow Never Dies and even Die Another Day and its ridiculous invisible car (please, for your own safety, try not to roll your eyes). Yet the only Brosnan-era film I can locate in my rather expansive DVD collection now is GoldenEye.
Was I wrong to jump to conclusions? Had I been overly critical of a series of films that's spanned over 50 years now about a British secret agent?
When first I sat down and gave a brief evaluation of every Eon Produced James Bond film released back in 2006 in anticipation for Casino Royale, the rebooted franchise starring Daniel Craig, I realized how harsh I was with the Brosnan-era.
Did my opinions still ring true? Do I still really hate The World Is Not Enough that much? Could I come back and re-watch all of these films with a clear conscience and provide a less biased verdict?
Well, if you're a bit of a Bond geek like myself -- or if you just enjoy reading my ramblings of all things movie-related -- then please proceed... if you dare!
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (1999)
Directed by Michael Apted
The only Bond film I've only seen once... and once was enough. Horrible acting along with a terrible storyline involving Bond protecting an oil heiress from a ruthless anarchist whose total imperviousness to pain makes him a virtually unstoppable enemy. That and Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist. Um, yeah... sure, completely believable.
Rating: 1 out of 5.
The Reevaluation
While the storyline is still quite convoluted (but then again, which Bond film isn't), I didn't hate watching this movie like I thought I would. I tried my best to keep my personal objections bottled up inside, all while trying to gain a new perspective on a film that I had last seen back on home video. (Yes, I had skipped seeing this in the theaters so I already had a general disinterest in this film from the get-go, but I'll address that here shortly.)
The Good:
Performances are strong, the cold open is solidly entertaining, and the action still holds my attention.
The pre-credit sequence, also known as the "cold open" within the James Bond series, has been a tradition since From Russia With Love. I believe this film delivers the cold open in a spectacular fashion. It is one of the longest, if not the longest of the entire franchise, and while some of it is a tad silly -- echoing of the Roger Moore-era (a wet dock conveniently located several floors up within the SIS building, a boat navigating the streets of London) -- the pacing is quick, the stunts are thrilling and over the top. The perfect prescription for a James Bond film.
The acting is top notch... minus one key performance that I'll get to momentarily. Sophie Marceau, Robert Carlyle, Robbie Coltrane, and Judi Dench all execute their character's roles perfectly. Renard is a capable Bond villain, even if his introduction to the film seems rather weak. His character is almost underused and is eclipsed by Elektra King. Even Pierce Brosnan seems the least "wooden" compared to his other ventures as 007. His first interaction with Renard within the nuclear missile silo is by far his most powerful scene and the best example of what a secret agent should do if he has a "license to kill."
The action sequences are well executed yet they still feel like set pieces. They mostly help to try and move the story along, but some feel absolutely unnecessary -- especially the Caucasus skiing chase scene with the Parahawks. Additionally, the gadgets also feel a little forced, but in all honesty, if I had been 13-years-old, rather than 24 when seeing this for the first time, I would not have been able to contain my excitement. While the 13-year-old inside is still awestruck by the use of the X-Ray glasses and credit card lock-pick, the film critic in me knows that they serve no real purpose to move the story along.
The Bad:
Denise Richards, the pacing of the film, and Denise Richards.
First, the pacing. The film seems about 20 minutes too long, yet when compared to all the other Bond films, it winds up right around the middle for running time length. Trim a few scenes here and there, eliminate at least one action sequence altogether and you have a lean-and-mean film clocking in at around 105 minutes. Unfortunately, the editor was unable to cut out Denise Richards' entire performance, which brings me to my second and the most glaringly obvious reason as to why it's hard to watch this film.
I was rather shocked and surprised at how much I was enjoying this film. I was beginning to question why I had hated it for fifteen years, until... Dr. Christmas Jones makes her first on-screen appearance. I'm not entirely sure if I'm more upset with her acting, the casting director for finding her, Eon Productions for signing her, or the director Michael Apted who was unable to extract more than a WB-level performance out of her character. Maybe a little bit of everything all bound up together in one tiny ball of hate. Trust me, there are other Bond girl performances that are just as baffling, but this film was released at the height of my expanding critical eye.
Denise Richards' acting ability has always played second fiddle to her primary "assets." Sadly, her character's sole purpose in this film is to deliver flat expositional dialogue that most viewers should be able to figure out themselves. Richards makes a wet dish rag more compelling. Her acting is horrible, her character's name is horrible, there's zero chemistry between her and Brosnan, and she serves absolutely no purpose to move the story along. I could keep going, but you get the point.
If you were to remove her character from this film completely since her primary function was the ability to disarm a nuclear bomb, that ends up not containing the stolen plutonium, in which Bond allows to detonate in the pipeline anyway, her character has no real objective.
Overall, Denise Richards doesn't ruin this film, but she sure as hell doesn't help it, either.
Reevaluation Score: 3 out of 5
DIE ANOTHER DAY (2002)
Directed by Lee Tamahori
Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade
Running Time: 2 hours, 13 minutes
Original Verdict:
Brosnan's final film was extremely over the top but it's execution was superb. Much more enjoyable that the previous, it redeemed itself with an entertaining storyline by having Bond being captured behind enemy lines in North Korea, tortured, stripped of his 00-license and being abandoned by MI-6. The remainder of the film has Bond attempting to exact revenge on who set him up in North Korea all while plays homage to the other 19 Bond films in the process.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Reevaluation
Just as my original verdict for The World Is Not Enough was overshadowed by Denise Richards in a very negative way, I believe my need -- my unbridled desire -- for another good James Bond film back in 2002 seriously clouded my initial judgment of Die Another Day. (Keep in mind that I had last seen this film approximately ten years ago as well.) If Enough still felt convoluted after my re-watch, then hold on to your skivvies boys and girls, because this movie is just damn ridiculous.
The Good: (this will be difficult, but I'll do my best)
The cold open is still engaging (even if it is laughable), Rosamund Pike's solid performance as the double-crossing double-agent and the nostalgic nod to the previous Bond films over the past 40 years is still pretty neat (just pay close attention to the props in Q's lab, or you'll miss it).
The original concept of Bond being captured behind enemy lines in North Korea and then tortured for 14 months before being released is a fantastically non-traditional way to open a Bond film. However, that's where the writers seem to checked out regarding original ideas and the wheels then fall off shortly thereafter.
The film struggles to gain traction for a good thirty minutes, yet Brosnan is still somewhat charming, even if it does feel like he's dialing in his performance. Be that as it may, the fact that Bond still has enough clout in Hong Kong that he can waltz right into a five-star hotel looking like Robinson Crusoe and gain access to a penthouse suite still plays on the fun aspect of the movie, but these moments are few and far between.
Rosamund Pike is the one diamond in the rough throughout the entire picture, showing that she owns pretty much any scene that she's in, stealing it away from either Brosnan or Berry. Gustav Graves fits the bill perfectly as an over-the-top Bond villain, but often comes across more like angry British-version of Pete Campbell from "Mad Men."
The Bad: (too much to dump below, but I'll cover the highlights)
The screenwriters seemed to have unsuccessfully reverse-engineered their story. Similar to how chefs work to create a cohesive dish in an episode of "Chopped," they have cobbled together a story around several props and set pieces including hover crafts, an invisible car, a DNA reconstruction machine, and a giant "space laser" that harnesses the power of the sun. This has produced a clunky 20th entry into the Bond franchise.
While Halle Berry could act circles around Denise Richards, she doesn't really do it here, and her performance in Die Another Day feels awfully stiff. It's a lackluster performance that is easily forgettable.
There are so many ridiculously stupid things that occur through this film that I'll just place them in bullet points below:
Reevaluation Score: 1 out of 5.
JAMES BOND WILL RETURN... for a Part 2 post here soon.
A spark of an idea came to me over my week off from work when Lisa and I were scrolling through the large selection of movies available to watch on HBO GO. Searching A to Z, we weren't finding anything worth watching (the selection at the end of December -- at least in our opinion -- were slim pickings). As I came to the end of the list, I discovered that several James Bond films including some titles that I do not own (for reasons I would rather discuss in a different blog post). Of those Bond titles, three of them were from the Brosnan-era.
When my cursor passed over The World Is Not Enough, I mumbled under my breath, "...of course they have one worst Bond movies available to stream, but where's GoldenEye? Where's Brosnan's best Bond film? Nowhere to be found."
It did seem odd that they only had available three of his four entries as James Bond. I didn't give it much thought after that. Instead, I started stewing over why I had a disconnect with the Brosnan-era. I seemed to remember enjoying Tomorrow Never Dies and even Die Another Day and its ridiculous invisible car (please, for your own safety, try not to roll your eyes). Yet the only Brosnan-era film I can locate in my rather expansive DVD collection now is GoldenEye.
Was I wrong to jump to conclusions? Had I been overly critical of a series of films that's spanned over 50 years now about a British secret agent?
When first I sat down and gave a brief evaluation of every Eon Produced James Bond film released back in 2006 in anticipation for Casino Royale, the rebooted franchise starring Daniel Craig, I realized how harsh I was with the Brosnan-era.
Did my opinions still ring true? Do I still really hate The World Is Not Enough that much? Could I come back and re-watch all of these films with a clear conscience and provide a less biased verdict?
Well, if you're a bit of a Bond geek like myself -- or if you just enjoy reading my ramblings of all things movie-related -- then please proceed... if you dare!
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (1999)
Directed by Michael Apted
Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein
Running Time: 2 hours, 8 minutes
Original Verdict:The only Bond film I've only seen once... and once was enough. Horrible acting along with a terrible storyline involving Bond protecting an oil heiress from a ruthless anarchist whose total imperviousness to pain makes him a virtually unstoppable enemy. That and Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist. Um, yeah... sure, completely believable.
Rating: 1 out of 5.
The Reevaluation
While the storyline is still quite convoluted (but then again, which Bond film isn't), I didn't hate watching this movie like I thought I would. I tried my best to keep my personal objections bottled up inside, all while trying to gain a new perspective on a film that I had last seen back on home video. (Yes, I had skipped seeing this in the theaters so I already had a general disinterest in this film from the get-go, but I'll address that here shortly.)
The Good:
Performances are strong, the cold open is solidly entertaining, and the action still holds my attention.
The pre-credit sequence, also known as the "cold open" within the James Bond series, has been a tradition since From Russia With Love. I believe this film delivers the cold open in a spectacular fashion. It is one of the longest, if not the longest of the entire franchise, and while some of it is a tad silly -- echoing of the Roger Moore-era (a wet dock conveniently located several floors up within the SIS building, a boat navigating the streets of London) -- the pacing is quick, the stunts are thrilling and over the top. The perfect prescription for a James Bond film.
The acting is top notch... minus one key performance that I'll get to momentarily. Sophie Marceau, Robert Carlyle, Robbie Coltrane, and Judi Dench all execute their character's roles perfectly. Renard is a capable Bond villain, even if his introduction to the film seems rather weak. His character is almost underused and is eclipsed by Elektra King. Even Pierce Brosnan seems the least "wooden" compared to his other ventures as 007. His first interaction with Renard within the nuclear missile silo is by far his most powerful scene and the best example of what a secret agent should do if he has a "license to kill."
The action sequences are well executed yet they still feel like set pieces. They mostly help to try and move the story along, but some feel absolutely unnecessary -- especially the Caucasus skiing chase scene with the Parahawks. Additionally, the gadgets also feel a little forced, but in all honesty, if I had been 13-years-old, rather than 24 when seeing this for the first time, I would not have been able to contain my excitement. While the 13-year-old inside is still awestruck by the use of the X-Ray glasses and credit card lock-pick, the film critic in me knows that they serve no real purpose to move the story along.
The Bad:
Denise Richards, the pacing of the film, and Denise Richards.
First, the pacing. The film seems about 20 minutes too long, yet when compared to all the other Bond films, it winds up right around the middle for running time length. Trim a few scenes here and there, eliminate at least one action sequence altogether and you have a lean-and-mean film clocking in at around 105 minutes. Unfortunately, the editor was unable to cut out Denise Richards' entire performance, which brings me to my second and the most glaringly obvious reason as to why it's hard to watch this film.
I was rather shocked and surprised at how much I was enjoying this film. I was beginning to question why I had hated it for fifteen years, until... Dr. Christmas Jones makes her first on-screen appearance. I'm not entirely sure if I'm more upset with her acting, the casting director for finding her, Eon Productions for signing her, or the director Michael Apted who was unable to extract more than a WB-level performance out of her character. Maybe a little bit of everything all bound up together in one tiny ball of hate. Trust me, there are other Bond girl performances that are just as baffling, but this film was released at the height of my expanding critical eye.
 |
| Because all nuclear physicists named Christmas Jones dress like Laura Croft from Tomb Raider. |
Denise Richards' acting ability has always played second fiddle to her primary "assets." Sadly, her character's sole purpose in this film is to deliver flat expositional dialogue that most viewers should be able to figure out themselves. Richards makes a wet dish rag more compelling. Her acting is horrible, her character's name is horrible, there's zero chemistry between her and Brosnan, and she serves absolutely no purpose to move the story along. I could keep going, but you get the point.
If you were to remove her character from this film completely since her primary function was the ability to disarm a nuclear bomb, that ends up not containing the stolen plutonium, in which Bond allows to detonate in the pipeline anyway, her character has no real objective.
Overall, Denise Richards doesn't ruin this film, but she sure as hell doesn't help it, either.
Reevaluation Score: 3 out of 5
DIE ANOTHER DAY (2002)
Directed by Lee Tamahori
Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade
Running Time: 2 hours, 13 minutes
Original Verdict:
Brosnan's final film was extremely over the top but it's execution was superb. Much more enjoyable that the previous, it redeemed itself with an entertaining storyline by having Bond being captured behind enemy lines in North Korea, tortured, stripped of his 00-license and being abandoned by MI-6. The remainder of the film has Bond attempting to exact revenge on who set him up in North Korea all while plays homage to the other 19 Bond films in the process.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Reevaluation
Just as my original verdict for The World Is Not Enough was overshadowed by Denise Richards in a very negative way, I believe my need -- my unbridled desire -- for another good James Bond film back in 2002 seriously clouded my initial judgment of Die Another Day. (Keep in mind that I had last seen this film approximately ten years ago as well.) If Enough still felt convoluted after my re-watch, then hold on to your skivvies boys and girls, because this movie is just damn ridiculous.
The Good: (this will be difficult, but I'll do my best)
The cold open is still engaging (even if it is laughable), Rosamund Pike's solid performance as the double-crossing double-agent and the nostalgic nod to the previous Bond films over the past 40 years is still pretty neat (just pay close attention to the props in Q's lab, or you'll miss it).
The original concept of Bond being captured behind enemy lines in North Korea and then tortured for 14 months before being released is a fantastically non-traditional way to open a Bond film. However, that's where the writers seem to checked out regarding original ideas and the wheels then fall off shortly thereafter.
The film struggles to gain traction for a good thirty minutes, yet Brosnan is still somewhat charming, even if it does feel like he's dialing in his performance. Be that as it may, the fact that Bond still has enough clout in Hong Kong that he can waltz right into a five-star hotel looking like Robinson Crusoe and gain access to a penthouse suite still plays on the fun aspect of the movie, but these moments are few and far between.
Rosamund Pike is the one diamond in the rough throughout the entire picture, showing that she owns pretty much any scene that she's in, stealing it away from either Brosnan or Berry. Gustav Graves fits the bill perfectly as an over-the-top Bond villain, but often comes across more like angry British-version of Pete Campbell from "Mad Men."
The Bad: (too much to dump below, but I'll cover the highlights)
The screenwriters seemed to have unsuccessfully reverse-engineered their story. Similar to how chefs work to create a cohesive dish in an episode of "Chopped," they have cobbled together a story around several props and set pieces including hover crafts, an invisible car, a DNA reconstruction machine, and a giant "space laser" that harnesses the power of the sun. This has produced a clunky 20th entry into the Bond franchise.
While Halle Berry could act circles around Denise Richards, she doesn't really do it here, and her performance in Die Another Day feels awfully stiff. It's a lackluster performance that is easily forgettable.
 |
| Put that plane on autopilot, beeotch. It's time for some swordplay. |
There are so many ridiculously stupid things that occur through this film that I'll just place them in bullet points below:
- Bond stopping his own heart in order to "escape" from MI6 custody is even less believable than the invisible car. "Stopping your own heart is akin to the karate-chop to the shoulder [to knock someone out]. That doesn't work." (I wish I could take credit for that quote, but it came from this podcast. I just felt it was worth sharing.)
- The invisible car.
- Bond is never behind the eight ball in this entire movie. Nothing is difficult or much of a challenge and he walks through almost every scene without much difficulty.
- The tone is so uneven in this film it's often frustrating. Are you a tongue-in-cheek cheesy/corny Moore-era film or are you trying to be serious and (kinda) dark? Playing both sides of the coin just doesn't work and delivers a lopsided and disappointing finished product.
- A fencing match/sword fight on a plane that is quickly falling apart and wants to crash.
- Madonna's entry into the pantheon of Bond songs is downright despicable. Her cameo in the film isn't any better.
- There's surfing in this movie. Twice. The second time really demonstrates how less-than-stellar the CGI is in this film.
- Laser light show fight sequence while short, is still too long and preposterous.
- Roger Moore: "I thought it just went too far – and that’s from me, the first Bond in space! Invisible cars and dodgy CGI footage? Please!" Enough said.
Reevaluation Score: 1 out of 5.
JAMES BOND WILL RETURN... for a Part 2 post here soon.
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