REVIEW
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 GoldenEye
1995
Certificate: 12 | Runtime: 130 | Director: Martin Campbell
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Famke Janssen, Izabella Scorupco
 
After the theft of the GoldenEye, a top-secret Russian military weapon, and a new helicopter, James Bond (Brosnan) suspects the two thefts are connected and tries to track them down. Joining forces with Natalya Siminova (Scorupco), Bond discovers that Russian General Ourumov (Gottfried John) and a mystery woman Xenia Onatopp (Janssen), are partners in crime with someone from his past.
After a 6 year gap and with a new actor in the tuxedo, this film reignited the Bond franchise. Not only is Brosnan extremely well suited to the part of Bond, but the rest of the roles are also ideally cast and many of the villainous characters are some of the most original in the entire series.
Beginning with a stunning bungee jump and a shoot-out in a Russian factory, the film presents us with a number of well crafted and largely believable action sequences, the highlight being a thrilling tank chase through the streets of St. Petersburg. Plot development is not ignored either and Campbell makes sure that the action sequences have significant bearing on the direction of the film, never allowing explosions for the sake of it.
Aside from Brosnan, who brings an element of sophistication and dry humour back to Bond after Timothy Dalton's darker interpretation, there are a number of equally solid performances. Janssen is particularly memorable as Onatopp, a ruthless assassin who uses sex as a weapon - literally - and Scorupco makes the most out of a rather auxiliary love-interest role. In terms of the supporting cast, there's a nice cameo from Robbie Coltrane - his Zukovsky character makes a welcome return in The World is Not Enough - and even Sean Bean is believable as the vengeful ex-MI6 agent.
The most entertaining performance however, comes from Alan Cumming as Russian computer nerd, Boris. Q is back in the regular form of Desmond Llewelyn and in a welcome and effective change, Judi Dench takes up the role of M, bringing a real sense of authority to the role.
Bond films are rarely works of art or revolutionary pieces of cinema, but they do have a wonderful capacity to entertain and GoldenEye has all the right elements to do this. It would be fair to say the film is missing a definitive villain - no Blofeld or an equivalent certainly robs it of something - but maybe in the post-Communist world, utterly deranged super-villains seem somewhat unrealistic.© David Mercier
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