Everybody has their favorite James Bond. For many, there is no substitute for the original, Sean Connery. A growing number of people, particularly those of a younger generation, prefer the gritty and modern Daniel Craig incarnation. If you’re from Australia, then maybe you prefer fellow countryman George Lazenby (maybe). But without question, one Bond actor who doesn’t get the amount of respect he deserves is Pierce Brosnan.
Fans and critics alike seem to love to dump on Brosnan’s Bond for whatever reason. Maybe it’s because his movies weren’t always the most well-written. Maybe it’s because he looked a little too perfect for the role. Maybe it’s because the ’90s Bond marked a sort of limbo between the campy Cold War Bonds and the darker current version. Regardless of whatever reasons people come up with to hate on Pierce Brosnan, the fact remains that Brosnan was a great Bond. And here’s why.
Brosnan was able to capture every aspect of Bond’s character and was able to do so convincingly. Whereas Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig come off as too serious to convincingly deliver a one-liner, Brosnan had enough of a cheeky side to deliver Bond’s trademark jokes with the right dose of wry British wit. He also, as previously mentioned, looked the part arguably more than any other Bond. While it may have been difficult to imagine gorgeous women in their 20s throwing themselves at a nearly-60-year-old Roger Moore in A View to a Kill, Brosnan was so handsome and charming that you had no trouble believing that Halle Berry would fall for the guy.
Brosnan was also able to pull off the ’90s action hero schtick that was so key to keeping the character relevant in the decade. While he always looked dashing in a tuxedo and sipping a vodka martini, Brosnan’s Bond really came alive when he would switch to combat mode. Black fatigues, machine gun in hand, and frequently repelling off of high objects, Brosnan was just the modern action hero version of the character that the ’90s needed.
Brosnan also possessed a sort of tough-to-categorize cool factor that helped make his Bond stand out. Brosnan just oozes cool as Bond. Sure, the laser-equipped Omega Seamaster, flashy cars, and expensive tailored suits don’t hurt, but it still takes a certain je ne sais quoi to make everything one does look cool. Brosnan even managed to look cool when he was asked to do absurd things, like windsurf on a CGI wave or make puns about a nuclear physicist named Christmas who was played by Denise Richards. That couldn’t have been easy, but he sure made it seem so.
With his wit, his looks, his action chops, and his preternatural coolness, Pierce Brosnan made for an ideal James Bond, And you can see him in action throughout the month of October on CHARGE! Catch The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day in our 007 Double Features on the weekends of Oct. 5-6 and Oct. 26-27. Check our schedule to see when the movies are airing in your area.
