Here’s my review of Goldeneye in four words: It’s a Bond movie. Here’s one for people who watch MTV: Cool. What more needs to be said? You’ve seen this movie before—about 15 times, give or take. But, since this is supposed to be a movie review, I guess I’ll have to elaborate a little.

I think it only fair that when reviewing a Bond film, the reviewer should get his prejudices out in the open. It gives the reader a barometer against which to measure the remarks about the film which follow. Prejudice number one: I like James Bond movies, with Goldfinger being my favorite (I’ve seen them all). Number two: my favorite Bond is Sean Connery. Having said that, the new movie has changed neither of these preexisting conditions. This is a capable addition to the stable of Bond films, but it is by no means one of the best. And, while Pierce is no Sean, he’s quite good.

To repeat, it’s a typical Bond movie. All elements are in place. Bond is his usual suave, handsome, un-killable, witty, urbane self. This time, of course, 007 is played by Pierce Brosnan, who, as most of you know, was supposed to get the part after Roger Moore left. Now he’s got it, and it looks like he’ll have it for a while, which is actually something to look forward to.

As is typical, beautiful Bond women appear. One good and one bad. Bond plays baccarat (and wins, of course) against one of the villains. The main villain wears black, to make sure we know that what we’re watching is essentially a souped-up Western. Gadgets, stunts and chases abound. The bad guys are wiped out, one by one, in typical Bond fashion, with a snappy one-liner apropos for the way each meets his end.

I’ve read reviews that say that the opening sequence is the best part of the movie. I would have to disagree. I liked this scene, with the exception of the really phony stunt that ends it. However, there is a tank chase in the middle of the film that did it for me. I loved this scene, outrageous as it is. Watching Bond destroy downtown Moscow (or whatever Russian city it’s supposed to be) was tremendous fun. I also enjoyed the scene in the Russian Monument Graveyard—it was quite eerie, seeing Marxism’s end represented this way.

The bad guy’s secret superfortress is similar to previous ones. The villain and his henchmen are their usual evil (but interesting) selves. The plot is, as all the others save Goldfinger, forgettable (ditto the opening song).

One semi-new twist for a Bond movie is the amount of computer wizardry. This film continues the fairly recent trend of having an evil computer genius as one of the villains. Earlier films I’ve seen with this component were Die Hard and The Net.

To conclude, if you’re a Bond fan, you should like Goldeneye. If you’re not, it probably won’t make you into a convert. Basically, you know what you’re going to see when you go to this type of movie, and that is exactly what it delivers.