GoldenEye (1995): The Scars of the Past

“GoldenEye” and “Skyfall” were my favorite Bond films for the longest times. The first time I saw “GoldenEye” was around the time I remember watching them growing up so Elementary School to High School. This film I think has some of the best action and once again a personal connection Bond is what drives the story. This is something the lesser Bond films forget. We need a reason to care about the protagonist and characters and “GoldenEye” captures that for all of our major parties. Also, I have fond memories of playing the N64 game of the same name that adapts the film to game form extremely well. This is a favorite of mine though it is very much a 90’s action film in so many ways.

The film was directed by Martin Campbell and written by Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirstein.

The story follows Bond (Pierce Brosnan) as he seeks to undercover the plot of the Janus Syndicate and their interest in the superweapon known as the GoldenEye.

SPOILERS ahead

The Pros:

The Premise – The premise of Bond losing his friend and having to stop a crime syndicate from getting a superweapon while dealing with the after affects of the Cold War is a lot of fun. The tension is high and you get why Bond is so distant from the get-go.

The Action – “GoldenEye” has my favorite opening out of any of the Bond films so far. You get emotional weight with the “death” of 006 and Bond is pushed to his fullest potential to escape, from setting off the charges early, a gunfight, taking control of motorcycle and finally using it to hijack a falling plane whose pilot he had kicked out earlier. The rest of the film’s action holds up too, with a chase through Moscow in a tank and a fight on top of a giant satellite. This film doesn’t waste time and uses action to tell story and move the story forward.

M – Judie Dench is a Queen and I love that her introduction is her safeguarding of life and calling out Bond for his sexism. It is beautiful and immediately endeared her. She is the best M, no competition and I love how she is explored as a character when she shows up further. For now, she is Bond’s best boss.

General Ourumov – General Ourumov is a general still striving for Cold War glory and it makes him fascinating as he allies with the criminal organization Janus to defeat those he sees as his enemies. The general is fascinating and you see him break over the course of the film before his death. Gottfriend John did a great job capturing this fascinating general.

Xenia – Famke Jannsen plays as “The Hand” of Janus. She is the enforcer and assassin and is a major threat. The only one who ever bests her is Bond and at the end it is only with help. She is a sadist and one of the villains who revels in cruelty. Jannsen does a great job of making her threatening and someone for the characters to fear.

Natalya – Izabella Scorupco does an amazing job as the programmer and hacker who survives the initial test of GoldenEye and helps Bond stop Janus. I love her early calling out of Bond as well as her saving them on multiple occasions through her programming and hacking skills. She was an awesome ally.

Alec Trevelyan / Janus (006) – Sean Bean easily plays one of the best villains in Alec Trevelyan. He was 006 and faked his own death which motivated Bond’s actions prior to Bond realizing he was alive. It was really well done as we learned his family was massacred because Britain abandoned them in Russia. You get why he wants to shape the world and see who the orphan Bond could have become. These are the best villains in the series and he represents Bond’s ego, intelligence and to some degree his backstory. Sean Bean gives this villain a level depth and his defeat is rewarding.

Bond’s Sexism Called Out – M calls out Bond’s sexism from the get-go and I love it. Bond isn’t idealized in the way past movies do in either ignoring his awful nature as a weapon and sociopath and finally we have an M who sees his flaws and ego. This needs to happen more. Ian Fleming clearly idealized the character and that is problematic all on it’s own. Good characters are shown to nuanced and that comes through critique or at least recognizing their flaws and problems.

The Cons:

The Opening Car Chase – Xenia and Bond race one another and the music that plays is awful. The sequence would be okay in regards to the chase if there wasn’t that but the music plays like a very bad mixed tape. I wish it’d been cut. It would have been fine meeting Xenia for the first time at the casino.

Some Tonal Whiplash – The one-liners in this are very Moore-esque and that does hurt the film from being rated higher as it does cause tonal whiplash, especially with a one-liner after a serious action sequence. This is better than some of Brosnan’s later films at least.

When I was young this was my first favorite Bond film and I do think it still holds up. Natalya, Ourumov, Janus, Xenia are all so memorable that the story stays with you…especially with how personal in nature the drama is to the majority of the character. Judie Dench also gives us the first memorable M. This is one I’d recommend just know it is very 90’s action in the aesthetic of it all, but it is an example of it for the most part working.

Final Score: 9.6 / 10

Gummo (1997): Desolation of a Small Town

“Gummo” was a film that a friend recommended and let me borrow. Suffice to say, it definitely impressed me. The feel and tone of the film never change and the characters are human. I’ll go into more of what I mean in the assessment.

“Gummo” was written and directed by Harmony Korine and produced by Cary Woods, Scott Macaulay and Robin O’Hara.

The story takes place in Xenia, Ohio sometimes after a tornado destroys the town. The story revolves around a few characters, the key ones being Bunny Boy, Solomon, Tummler and the sisters and their stories of dealing with the desolation and the self destruction inflicted on themselves and around them.

Here is the assessment of the film:

The Pros: The Tone – The tone is great in this. There is no joy in this film and that is kind of the point. Most moments of joy are contrasted by the destruction being wrought. One of the biggest scenes of this is happy music being played while Bunny Boy (the character in the poster) making out with the sisters, while the Tummler and Solomon kill their cat that they’d been looking for, and later the tornado and a character with special needs singing a song about how Jesus loves her right after Bunny Boy brings the dead cat to the camera.

The Introduction – The introduction captures the bleakness of the picture. Solomon is the narrator and he tells about how the tornado destroyed everything and how people’s bones were sticking of their bodies and how he saw up a girls skirt when she got pulled away, also how one death was funny. You get the trauma and the caring which leads into Bunny Boy on the overpass and later getting “killed” by two hooligan kids who mock him for his pink ears.

The characters – The characters are human, which should be a given in a film but with so much bad writing and/or acting it is hard to really capture this sometimes. “Gummo” does it really well. We see Tummler drinking and arm wresting his dad and Tummler’s carrying for Solomon contrasted with him having sex with a down syndrome girl who is being pimped out by her brother, and getting high off glue.

The Relationships – Tummler and his dad, you see how his dad feels desperate but still cares for his son as best he can…same with Solomon and his mother who just wants him to smile again. The sisters also have a great relationship as they look out for each other after one goes through breast surgery because of cancer and fighting off a molester who says he found their cat. The movie is bleak and dark, but the relationships are strong.

The Cats – So many cats were poached, mostly by Tummler and Solomon, but also their rival who is caring for his grandmother on life support. You get the feeling the cats represent some level of innocence as the girls, who are the only real kind people in the film have a pet cat, the rest are prayed upon by the boys. Pretty much summing up the stories of the victims in the town (molestation(a few characters), lonliness (most if not all), repressed sexuality (a gay relationship that isn’t able to happen because of gay dwarf in denial) throughout the film.

Okay: the Music – This film would have almost worked better without music or a soundtrack. The music that is played in certain scenes gets the job done. So it isn’t really at that strong overall.

The Cinematography – There were some great moments of cinemography and some bad moments. I wish the uglyness had been more raw or stylized throughout. There isn’t a real focus with it, which contributed to the problem of lack of focus.

Cons: Lack of focus – I wish it had just focused on the core groups. Making it about everyone in the town took away from their narratives and character development. For example, when did they start killing cats and sniffing glue (Tummler and Solomon). Do they have any hopes or dreams? Do any of the characters? If so, show us more of why.

“Gummo” is a film I would definitely recommend. It is a cult classic for a reason and I can’t wait to see more of Harmony Korine’s work. The writing and acting is fantastic and the tone is consistent and powerful throughout.

Final Score is 8.5 / 10

Definitely a favorite film.