Octopussy
Widely considered by many (and rightfully so) to be one of the worst entries in the Bond series, it can almost be said that the aging Roger Moore (in his sixth outing) and his penchant for humor overtook this production so much that at times this film feels more like a vehicle for Austin Powers. This time, Bond sets out to discover who has killed a fellow agent over a Faberge Egg (yay), only to learn that it is connected to a mad Russian general and an exiled Afghan prince who plan to blow a nuclear bomb on an American military base, with the baddies having some vague connection to a female jewel smuggler from whose name the film takes its title from, and whose traveling circus is used to transport the nuke. In the title role, Maud Adams lacks the exotic touch of a woman living in India on her own private island, and comes across as a bit too Anglo to be believable as a result. In addition, the character as written is a bit of a walking contradiction: She’s supposed to be this ultra-rich and powerful woman with her own (female) private army, yet she’s being manipulated and betrayed by the very men for work for her! But naturally character motivation is fairly vague for the most part, and worse, Adams is upstaged in the looks and sex appeal department by Kristina Wayborn as her second in command who also enjoys a romantic interlude with 007 (even as she recites her dialogue in a flat monotone). As for the villains, Louis Jourdan is the saving grace of the film as Kamal Khan, bringing some suave dignity to the part and really being the best lead villain the series has had since Christopher Lee in Man With The Golden Gun. However, that is almost offset by Steven (Victor Maitland) Berkoff as the Russian general, hamming it up and overacting to the point of embarrassment (I got the feeling he REALLY wanted to invade Eastern Europe haha). In addition, Kabir Bedi as the Indian henchman is really just another big guy to fill that stock Bond archetype, only this time he wears a turban. It is also of note that the pacing is slower than in the other Moore films, and then there is that overuse of corny humor: Whether it be a snake charmer playing the Bond theme song or Bond himself giving a Tarzan yell as he swings from vines in the jungle, right down to Octopussy’s female army invading the bad guy’s lair with ridiculous results, director John Glen overdoes it to the extreme, with the final insult being when Bond infiltrates the circus at the climax and disguises himself as a clown (considered a literal symbolic gesture by most fans). At least the theme song by Rita Coolidge is good and the precredits sequence is fun without going overboard, but in the end, this should only be watched by completists who wish to experience all the stabs Moore had with the part, only to discover that this is the worst one…
5/10