Or an Indian actor for that matter, since apparently Octopussy was originally going to be Indian but they changed her backstory so a Swede could play her instead.Īgain, nothing against Maud Adam's performance itself. They were more than happy hire Indian actors for Khan's henchmen and Bond's contact in India but not an Afghan actor in a lead role? Now this isn't the worst bit of racism in a film that offers a more incorrect and stereotypical depiction of India than Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom but it sticks out to me simple because it seems so unnecessary. Kamal Khan is supposed to be an exiled Afghan prince. Louis Jourdan is fantastic in the role and I can't fault his performance at all. Secondly, this is such an unnecessary bit of whitewashing (in the racial sense) in the casting of a character. A real debonair Bond villain but willing to slink into the background to play different parties against each other so at one point you think he might not be the big bad but rather it is the Soviet general or Octopussy herself. Speaking on the main villain, let's talk about Kamal Khan for a bit.įirstly, I think he's great. The main bad guy is decidedly low-key, a gentleman's villain, happy to invite Bond to dinner the night before he is going to torture him. There's Bond in a tuxedo, Moore doing his trademark raised eyebrow, using cool gadgets which are only useful for one contrived purpose. The story is told straight like it should be but peppered with the occasional campy slapstick and wonderfully bad puns. This isn't to say this is the best Roger Moore Bond movie, personally I would go with The Spy Who Loved Me, but rather it is the film which best highlights what Moore's run on Bond was like. And probably the movie which is most "Roger Moore" of the Moore era of Bond films. I never really know why Bond is ever doing anything or what his mission actually is, sometimes he's just in places randomly that happen to be where the bad guys are, but I kinda just tuned out with this one and simply enjoyed the flashing lights and terrible puns.īecause this is a fun movie. Oh, there's also a travelling circus in there somewhere and a couple of trips to India. However, he will only lead the invasion only after first causing an explosion on an American army base in Germany which will look like one of the American nuclear bombs went off accidentally, naturally leading to the disarmament of nuclear weapons across Europe because reasons. In short, MI6 discover a fake Fabergé egg but the bad guys need to get the real egg which they were going to sell back to the Soviet gallery they took it from so no realises it's missing, or possibly they want the fake one? It's not clear but this is all part of some jewel smuggling enterprise to finance a rogue Soviet Union general's mad plan to start an invasion into Europe by tank division. I usually stop paying attention to the plot of these movies around the half hour to 45 minute mark but I didn't even try with this one. A pleasant slow ballad, it's just a bit forgettable and sleepy sounding.Īside from its unfortunate title, what else can be said about Octopussy? Well, the plot makes absolutely no sense, even considering this is a Bond film. While we're talking about the theme song, it's okay I guess. Also, not many words make a perfect rhyme with Octopussy so maybe that was a consideration. It's no wonder Rita Coolidge's theme song is called "All Time High" and doesn't mention the word 'Octopussy' at all. The actor is trying his best but her name is so silly, it was completely hilarious to me. The only I knew or recalled about this film was once catching it on TV during the scene where the bad guy Kamal Khan is trying to placate Octopussy and keeps repeating her name in a reassuring manner. I understand that it apparently was a legit title of one of Ian Fleming's short stories but that doesn't make it any better. It's a title that can't help but make you laugh a little at. Right off the bat, 1983's Octopussy has to be one of the most awkward title Bond films (although A View to a Kill is quite ungainly grammatically but we'll get there). That said, heading seven films in a franchise is an impressive feat and kudos to him for sticking in for as long as he did.Īlright, let's get on with it and see what Moore had to offer with his final two Bond missions. I'll do a wrap up at the end but just up top, I'd like to say that I've enjoyed watching Moore's Bond but I'm glad this is done and we can move on. It surely was a ride with a number of ups and downs, thrilling adventure and hilarious camp, with some blatant misogyny and unfortunate racism thrown in the mix too.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |