Alec Trevelyan, whose parents were survivors of the Stalinist massacre of Cossacks who were repatriated by the British soldiers to the Soviet Union after World War II, wants to take revenge on the British. He thus teams up with Xenia Onatopp, Russian General Ourumov and computer hacker Boris and takes control of the Goldeneye, a spy satellite in order to fire a laser on London, and thereby also hide his theft of money from the Bank of England. However, MI6 sends their trustworthy spy 007, James Bond, who teams up with Natalya, a survivor of Trebelyan’s raid on a Russian base, and manages to stop the evil plan.
After a disappointing commercial success with “Licence to Kill”, it took a long wait of six years until the producers decided to continue the James Bond film series with this 17th installment, and this time, they did not choose wrong: “Goldeneye” proved to be a blockbuster. With its convoluted storyline and unconvincing motivations of the villain, the film is nothing better than “Licence to Kill”, but marked an improvement on a different front: casting Pierce Brosnan was a stroke of genius, since the charismatic actor gave a fresh kick to the franchise, needed to get it rolling again. “Goldeneye” had the burden of being the 1st James Bond film after the end of the Cold War, the spy era that gave birth to the subgenre, yet it found new ways, new enemies, and even amusing opening credits in which the Communist symbols are dismantled. Several problems still plague the film: it has too many illogical, naive or ridiculous ideas, the biggest one being the same old cliche of writers writing themselves into the corner whenever James Bond is captured by the villains, since they cannot kill him outright but have to concoct far-fetched ploys to eliminate him, which gives him time to escape (in this edition, after the bad guy captures Bond and Natalya, he knocks him unconscious, and the agent wakes up tied with Natalya in a helicopter about to shoot rockets which will return and destroy it, yet, naturally, Bond and Natalya escape via an ejection seat). The film also lacks wit: the small episode featuring Robbie Coltrane almost steals the show and overshadows even Bond with his charm. This is set up already in the dialogue between Bond and agent Wade: “Who is the competition?” - “Ah, an ex-KGB guy. Got a limp on his leg. Name’s Zukovsky.” - “Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky?” - “Yes. You know him?” Bond replies: “I gave him the limp.” The character of Onatopp, the villain woman who gets excitement through violence, is so over-the-top it is laughable. Overall, though, the film has just enough charm and elan to offer solid entertainment.
Grade:++
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