Review of Live and Let Die (1973) by Maineutral R — 16 Jun 2013

What a strange film to use as the premier of a new Bond. It doesn't have a strong introduction of Bond (in fact he is not in the opening sequence.) M finds him later and Bond goes through a silly juggling act of hiding his latest female conquest. The opening scenes where agents are being killed, contrasted with Bond's first scene set the tone of the movie. They make it clear that, while the events occuring around Bond will be dark and disturbing, there will still be a farcical undercurrent. It's so odd, because Moore seems like a more distinguished and proper Englishman, so I'd expect that they would create more dignified scripts. Instead they load this one with racism and madcap comedy. Unlike You Only Live Twice or Diamonds are Forever, where there is some tongue-in-cheek humor, suddenly there are entire sequences inserted strictly for comedic effect. Whenever I watch that big boat chase sequence with Sheriff Pepper, I start to wonder if Mel Brooks is the writer/director of this movie. It's all just too much.

I never really had a problem with Roger Moore in the role of Bond. While the writers did overload his movies with farce, he never seemed to be the instigator. I think my main issue with him in the role is the fact that he seems more like a gentleman rather than an action hero. Whenever faced with a scene that requires him to physically best a group of opponents, it feels too artificial and staged. He is at his best when he is charming the ladies, something that Connery never mastered in my eyes. Speaking of the ladies, Jane Seymour is quite lovely in the role of Solitaire. She has the needed innocence to pull off the virginal qualities of the character, and I think she captures the emotional conflict that Solitaire is forced into by Bond. Yaphet Kotto is the only bright spot for the villains, because he tries to play Kananga just as charming as Moore's portrayal of Bond. However the rest of the villains are just a full spectrum of black stereotypes. The whole movie is amazingly dated in the way it lines up all white people as good, and all black people as bad. Perhaps it's just a sign of the times, as blaxploitation films were gaining in popularity, but watching it now just makes my skin crawl a little bit.

I think the biggest reason that I dislike this film, though, is the mystical undercurrent. James Bond can sometimes get a little far-fetched with his gadgets, but by and large they're at least based on science. Yet in Live and Let Die suddenly Bond lives in a world with voodoo rituals, and tarot cards that really predict the future. It's like James Bond stepped into an Indiana Jones movie. This movie tries to satisfy, and I'm sure it succeeds for some people, I just find it downright annoying. It is interesting how they try to echo back to Bond's beginning by revisiting elements from Dr. No: return to Jamaica, Quarrel's son, villain with metal hand, etc. Sadly, when they open this film to comparisons to Dr. No it just makes it more obvious where this movie is lacking. In fact, some moments of the film are so reminiscent of past Bond films that I almost get a been-there-done-that feeling. The boat race in particular gets downright boring at one point as it just goes on and on interminably. How many times can they run the boats over land? There are virtually zero bright spots in this movie for me. I find myself annoyed, uncomfortable, and bored while watching...not exactly the sensations you'd expect from a Bond film.