The Natural

Life in the Manichean league. Not since the black-hat/white-hat westerns of days of yore has there been a movie so simplistic in its depiction—visually, at least, if not in plot terms — of the good vs. evil conflict. And yet, despite this film’s short-spectrum presentation, the story still comes across as something of a muddle. Yes, it is apparently supposed to be something of a mystery what happened to Roy Hobbs during all those missing years—but that doesn’t mean the character’s arc should make so little sense. The viewer is left wondering why exactly that life-changing event happened at all, let alone why someone seemingly as good and grounded as Redford’s character would be so thoroughly diverted for a decade and a half. This is movie that, like most fables, I suppose, does not stand up all that well to scrutiny. Sure, the right side wins in the end—no real spoiler there; the denouement is obvious all the way through—but even such a triumphant ending ultimately comes across as unsatisfying. You can chalk this one up as a win, ultimately, but there were certainly errors made along the way.

The Living Daylights

It becomes abundantly clear early on in this movie: Timothy Dalton never had a chance as James Bond. The surprise, in retrospect, comes from the fact that it probably wasn’t his fault. The producers made a huge mistake in changing not just their lead actor, but also the entire tone of the series with this movie. There’s hardly any of the joie de vivre that was a hallmark of the Bond flicks present in this outing; the tone is decidedly darker, more downbeat, almost dour. That the franchise needed a shakeup could hardly be denied, but changing both Bond and his milieu at the same time was more tinkering than was warranted. If Dalton had gotten a chance to be as playful as Connery or Moore, maybe movie history would have been a bit different. As it is, this one is OK, not great--though there are a couple of really good action/stunt sequences--and stands as mostly just a footnote in the series’ narrative.

GoldenEye

This movie began the weird Bond-series tradition of changing some players while retaining others. The old Q is still banging around here, but Judi Dench steps in as the new M, and of course Brosnan quickly secures the role of Bond as his very own. The six-year layoff between films was, apparently, good for everyone; the production is back to its usual standards, Russia plays prominently once again (as a post-Cold War venue, but it still had some of the old juice), and the gadgetry--sorely missing in the last two films--returns to its usual role. Most noticeably, there’s fun to be had here, the lack of which was a major deficiency in the Dalton movies. No wonder a tottering enterprise was able to save itself, not just to continue but to achieve future excellence.