Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce, Michelle Yeoh, Teri Hatcher
Have I Seen it Before: Oh, yes. In that far flung winter of 1997, I actually lost ten bucks to Ben Owen, when I bet him that this would be the bigger film than the other wide release that weekend, beating out a little film that already had a reputation of going significantly over budget and being delayed by the studio.
The movie was Titanic (1997).
I bet against Cameron, and I got what I deserved. But you’re damned right I was in the theater for this one on opening weekend, for all the good it did me.
Did I Like It: I’ve kind of soured on Brosnan’s films in the series in recent years. The more interesting parts of his four films were greatly improved on by Daniel Craig’s films, and the worst impulses adopted too much of Roger Moore for my taste. It was entirely possible that this era of the series best contributions would be to video games more than anything else. I’ll be honest that I thought I would just have this movie on in the background*, but I found the pre-title sequence to be a delight and was drawn into the film.
But then I kind of lost interest in a mishmash of truly terrible CGI and Teri Hatcher. I was getting a little bored. This wasn’t helped very much by the occasional diving sequence, which can absolutely suck the life out of otherwise great Bond films. Just ask Thunderball (1965). That is probably pretty close to the review I would have given the film in the 90s.
But the film is not without its charms. And by that I mean Michelle Yeoh. She more than equals Brosnan’s swagger and ability. All of the times the Eon powers that be threatened to offer Bond spinoffs, I really wish they would have pulled the trigger here. More Yeoh is good for everyone.
*I’d probably be first in line to see if the film re-entered theaters for any spell of time. I could win that ten bucks back yet.