ReBONDing: The Brosnan Years Pt. 2
Reevaluating the Brosnan Era (1995 - 2002)
When we last left James Bond, he was hanging off the "cliffs of mediocrity," hoping to regain his footing...
I had taken the time to reexamine Pierce Brosnan's last two entries in the Franchise, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. As most things can often change over time, that is exactly what happened with me re-watching these two films. Both films suffered from severely biased opinions and I have now have altered my judgment on both by giving them a second chance.
Will I still be able to hold my tongue through Brosnan's first two films? Can I hold off judgment until the end credits role? Will I be able to remove my rose-colored glasses with GoldenEye and give it a proper and just evaluation?
We will see...
TOMORROW NEVER DIES (1997)
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode
Written by Bruce Feirstein
Running Time: 1 hour, 59 minutes
Original Verdict:
A much weaker plot involving a deranged media mogul arranging international incidents for headlines and pitting world superpowers against each other. Brosnan still knocks the role out of the park, but the story suffers in the process.
Rating: 2 out of 5.
The Reevaluation
Brosnan's films had a real tough time setting the right tone, and this film wasn't any different. While Tomorrow Never Dies isn't his worst entry (Die Another Day is honored to hold that title) it is sorely evident that after watching three of these films in under a week's time, that the filmmakers involved -- while trying to place Bond in a more modern and serious post-Cold War world -- fail to reduce the tongue-in-cheek humor from the previous two decades at the same time. Be that as it may, with its obvious shortcomings Tomorrow still delivers, even if that delivery is just due to the fact that it is the most formulaic-Bond film of the Brosnan era.
The Good:
The film is well-paced, its simplified plot is a refreshing change, and the addition of special agent Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) as an equal to Bond who isn't necessarily susceptible to his charm is fantastic.
While there was a fair amount of absurdities throughout this picture, the pacing was not one of them. Instead, it successfully moves through its 120 minute running time efficiently, most likely due to the pressing timeline within the movie itself -- forcing MI6 and James Bond in trying to prevent World War III between England and China.
When we last left James Bond, he was hanging off the "cliffs of mediocrity," hoping to regain his footing...
I had taken the time to reexamine Pierce Brosnan's last two entries in the Franchise, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. As most things can often change over time, that is exactly what happened with me re-watching these two films. Both films suffered from severely biased opinions and I have now have altered my judgment on both by giving them a second chance.
Will I still be able to hold my tongue through Brosnan's first two films? Can I hold off judgment until the end credits role? Will I be able to remove my rose-colored glasses with GoldenEye and give it a proper and just evaluation?
We will see...
TOMORROW NEVER DIES (1997)
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode
Written by Bruce Feirstein
Running Time: 1 hour, 59 minutes
Original Verdict:
A much weaker plot involving a deranged media mogul arranging international incidents for headlines and pitting world superpowers against each other. Brosnan still knocks the role out of the park, but the story suffers in the process.
Rating: 2 out of 5.
The Reevaluation
Brosnan's films had a real tough time setting the right tone, and this film wasn't any different. While Tomorrow Never Dies isn't his worst entry (Die Another Day is honored to hold that title) it is sorely evident that after watching three of these films in under a week's time, that the filmmakers involved -- while trying to place Bond in a more modern and serious post-Cold War world -- fail to reduce the tongue-in-cheek humor from the previous two decades at the same time. Be that as it may, with its obvious shortcomings Tomorrow still delivers, even if that delivery is just due to the fact that it is the most formulaic-Bond film of the Brosnan era.
The Good:
The film is well-paced, its simplified plot is a refreshing change, and the addition of special agent Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) as an equal to Bond who isn't necessarily susceptible to his charm is fantastic.
While there was a fair amount of absurdities throughout this picture, the pacing was not one of them. Instead, it successfully moves through its 120 minute running time efficiently, most likely due to the pressing timeline within the movie itself -- forcing MI6 and James Bond in trying to prevent World War III between England and China.
Chinese spy Wai Lin breathes new life into an exhausted role, introducing one of the first -- if not the only -- Bond girl who is seen as his equal. Michelle Yeoh's performance is beautifully subtle and classy, never playing the damsel-in-distress that was all too common within this franchise. Teri Hatcher's portrayal of Paris Carver is unexpectedly pleasant and seems to enjoy a playful and natural chemistry with Bond (even if it is a little jilted). Unfortunately, the screenwriter failed to develop any kind of back story for the two; so whatever their history was, it serves little to no purpose in the end.
The Bad:
Elliot Carver and his melodramatic madness, most of the action sequences don't hold up, and the overall premise feels awfully outdated.
The Bad:
Elliot Carver and his melodramatic madness, most of the action sequences don't hold up, and the overall premise feels awfully outdated.
Elliot Carver is really just the shell of a good Bond villain. He is a one-dimensional character with ulterior motives that painfully hide in plain sight. Anything that doesn't immediately go his way unveils the power hunger media mogul who possesses the subtlety of a third grader throwing a temper tantrum. I would have expected a little more depth from Jonathan Pryce.
Additionally disappointing were most of the action sequences, which never truly felt organic. Whether it was the cold open that fizzled, the motorcycle rooftop chase, or the parking lot car chase extravaganza, it only seemed to resemble other late 90s action movies like The Rock, Face/Off, or Con Air, yet poorly executed. While some of it was entertaining, most of it just felt like contractually obligated product placement wedged into the picture. (Although this picture would pale in comparison just five years later with Die Another Day and its $120 million in product placement.)
Additionally disappointing were most of the action sequences, which never truly felt organic. Whether it was the cold open that fizzled, the motorcycle rooftop chase, or the parking lot car chase extravaganza, it only seemed to resemble other late 90s action movies like The Rock, Face/Off, or Con Air, yet poorly executed. While some of it was entertaining, most of it just felt like contractually obligated product placement wedged into the picture. (Although this picture would pale in comparison just five years later with Die Another Day and its $120 million in product placement.)
Despite the fact that the basic storyline is largely preposterous, it is still very much in the style of a James Bond movie. Tomorrow is over the top and grandiose, yet parts of the film do not age well (specifically the focus on print media yet no one mentions the potential power of the internet). Be that as it may, the good still outweighs the bad, if nothing more than for Wai Lin's character and her partnership with Bond.
Reevaluation Score: 3 out of 5.
GOLDENEYE (1995)
Directed by Martin Campbell
Written by Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirstein, Michael France (story)
Running Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Original Verdict:
Pierce Brosnan brought to the roll a fantastic combination of Connery's class and Moore's humor along with his own style. The best Bond to hit the silver screen since For Your Eyes Only and it starred the last girl on my Top 5 Bond Girls list, Famke Jessen as Xenia Onatopp.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
The Reevaluation
A good five years had passed since I last watched GoldenEye (maybe more), and in that time frame, not much of my opinion has changed. Yes, there are certain elements of the film that now bother me, but they're minute in comparison to the other films. As this film quickly approaches its 20th-anniversary release, I find very little wrong with Brosnan's freshman-outing.
The Good:
The cold open is by far one of my all-time favorites, where Bond is seen bungee-jumping down a dam, gaining access to a Russian weapons facility and ending with him valiantly escaping by riding a motorcycle at top speed off a cliff to then skydive and reach an unmanned plane about to crash. It has just the right amount of spectacular disbelief that seems appropriate for a Bond film, without feeling over the top.
Famke Jessen as Xenia Onatopp satisfyingly combined the villain's main henchman and a Bond girl. She is initially seen as "the next girl" that Bond would pursue but quickly learns of her allegiance to Janus. Furthermore, I feel that Izabella Scorupco's performance as Natalya tends to be overlooked by most Bond fans. Her character -- while properly representing the "damsel in distress" female interest -- still proves to serve an actual purpose within the GoldenEye story-arch, unlike Dr. Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough.
Pierce Brosnan is delightful and playful as the new James Bond. He's never too serious nor too campy. Brosnan -- along with director Martin Campbell -- locate and lock-on to that fine line balance between Bond and farce. This is a laborious task, but when done right, the end result is quite satisfying.
The Bad:
I find it much more difficult to suspend my disbelief with the film's dated technology. You would think, especially in a post-Cold War Russia, that it would be much more difficult to gain access to the internet in 1995. Instead, Natalya logs online and quickly locates Boris with the greatest of ease. I honestly believe that it would have been easier for Bond to skydive off a cliff and successfully reach the cockpit of that plane than to navigate the Russian dial-up internet with a 14.4k modem . (I could go on, but I've already written, re-written, and then deleted at least four more sentences now which would just bore you and frustrate me in the process.)
These are just minor plot holes and they're pretty insignificant. They're just meant to move the story along. What I really want to do now is complain about Eric Serra's music score.
You don't realize how much you miss John Barry's wonderfully adventurous score until you don't have it for four straight movies. No matter how much of Serra's score was rumored to have been either removed, replaced or masked in GoldenEye with Barry-esque plagiarism, it is still an unfortunate substitute for the real thing. It echoes of the terrible new age sound of the 1990s and is horribly synthesized. When the score dominants, it unintentionally degrades those scenes. Thankfully, those scenes are few and far between.
David Arnold took the reigns for the next five films, and while he was considerably better than Serra, even his ventures weren't far off the mark from channeling Barry, but never as satisfying. Apparently it's very hard to get out from under the shadow of a true master.
GOLDENEYE (1995)
Directed by Martin Campbell
Written by Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirstein, Michael France (story)
Running Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Original Verdict:
Pierce Brosnan brought to the roll a fantastic combination of Connery's class and Moore's humor along with his own style. The best Bond to hit the silver screen since For Your Eyes Only and it starred the last girl on my Top 5 Bond Girls list, Famke Jessen as Xenia Onatopp.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
The Reevaluation
A good five years had passed since I last watched GoldenEye (maybe more), and in that time frame, not much of my opinion has changed. Yes, there are certain elements of the film that now bother me, but they're minute in comparison to the other films. As this film quickly approaches its 20th-anniversary release, I find very little wrong with Brosnan's freshman-outing.
The Good:
The cold open is by far one of my all-time favorites, where Bond is seen bungee-jumping down a dam, gaining access to a Russian weapons facility and ending with him valiantly escaping by riding a motorcycle at top speed off a cliff to then skydive and reach an unmanned plane about to crash. It has just the right amount of spectacular disbelief that seems appropriate for a Bond film, without feeling over the top.
Famke Jessen as Xenia Onatopp satisfyingly combined the villain's main henchman and a Bond girl. She is initially seen as "the next girl" that Bond would pursue but quickly learns of her allegiance to Janus. Furthermore, I feel that Izabella Scorupco's performance as Natalya tends to be overlooked by most Bond fans. Her character -- while properly representing the "damsel in distress" female interest -- still proves to serve an actual purpose within the GoldenEye story-arch, unlike Dr. Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough.
Pierce Brosnan is delightful and playful as the new James Bond. He's never too serious nor too campy. Brosnan -- along with director Martin Campbell -- locate and lock-on to that fine line balance between Bond and farce. This is a laborious task, but when done right, the end result is quite satisfying.
The Bad:
I find it much more difficult to suspend my disbelief with the film's dated technology. You would think, especially in a post-Cold War Russia, that it would be much more difficult to gain access to the internet in 1995. Instead, Natalya logs online and quickly locates Boris with the greatest of ease. I honestly believe that it would have been easier for Bond to skydive off a cliff and successfully reach the cockpit of that plane than to navigate the Russian dial-up internet with a 14.4k modem . (I could go on, but I've already written, re-written, and then deleted at least four more sentences now which would just bore you and frustrate me in the process.)
These are just minor plot holes and they're pretty insignificant. They're just meant to move the story along. What I really want to do now is complain about Eric Serra's music score.
You don't realize how much you miss John Barry's wonderfully adventurous score until you don't have it for four straight movies. No matter how much of Serra's score was rumored to have been either removed, replaced or masked in GoldenEye with Barry-esque plagiarism, it is still an unfortunate substitute for the real thing. It echoes of the terrible new age sound of the 1990s and is horribly synthesized. When the score dominants, it unintentionally degrades those scenes. Thankfully, those scenes are few and far between.
David Arnold took the reigns for the next five films, and while he was considerably better than Serra, even his ventures weren't far off the mark from channeling Barry, but never as satisfying. Apparently it's very hard to get out from under the shadow of a true master.
It's really hard to argue -- and most Bond aficionados would agree -- that GoldenEye is still the best crafted and directed film of the Brosnan-era.
Reevaluation Score: 4.5 out of 5.
Interested in another good Bond-like Brosnan film that wasn't a Bond film? Look no further than John McTiernan's remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. You won't be disappointed.
JAMES BOND WILL RETURN...
Reevaluation Score: 4.5 out of 5.
Interested in another good Bond-like Brosnan film that wasn't a Bond film? Look no further than John McTiernan's remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. You won't be disappointed.
JAMES BOND WILL RETURN...
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