Pierce Brosnan’s tenure as 007 is a funny thing. In so many ways, it feels like he was born to play James Bond: he was offered the role more than once throughout his career, and once the stars did finally align, he slipped into Bond’s shoes with all the suavity that the character deserves. It’s the films themselves that let the actor down. In hindsight, Brosnan admits to feeling “caught in a time warp” between Sean Connery’s iconic, defining performance as Bond and the sillier stylings of Roger Moore.
You can see that dissonance in each Brosnan-Bond film: while he’s playing every beat completely straight, his adventures are almost unbearably silly by contrast. That his time as Bond culminated with what many regard as the most ridiculous film in the franchise’s history, Die Another Day, only sinks his reputation further. But things didn’t start off on such an unserious note. Before the diminishing returns of Die Another Day, there was GoldenEye, a franchise reboot that teased a much more promising future.
