James Bond 2

for what it matters

BOND IS BACK

By TOM SOTER

from THE COLUMBIA DAILY SPECTATOR
July 28, 1977

 

Bond (Roger Moore) vs Jaws (Richard Kiel)

The Spy who Loved Me is the tenth james Bond movie (or eleventh' if you count Casino Royale) . which means that things should, be getting' either tired or different by now. They are. Spy is more a lifeless remembrance of Bond's past than anything else. There is the villain in the underwater hideout (Dr. No); the brutal fight on the speeding train (From Russia, With Love); the car that can do anything (Goldfinger); the hungry sharks and threatening scuba divers (Thunderball); the impossible ski chase (On Her Majesty's Secret Service); and the kidnapping of American and Russian crafts which could lead to international holocaust (You Only Live Twice).

It is this last reference that has predominance in Spy. The mad genius who threatens the world with destruction is a staple in Bond thrillers in general, and in You Only Live Twice in particular. The difference here is that the bad guy (Curt Jurgens) is about as menacing as. a nasty boys' school dean and merely adds to the, weightlessness that besets. not only the villains, but the heroes and storyline as well.

Roger Moore, for instance, is a dull Bond. He lacks his predecessor Sean Connery's ability to laugh at himself and us for taking, things too seriously. Moore is merely impeccable and: about as interesting as the department store dummy he resembles.

Qutside of the casting, however, die very fact that 007 has become invincible prompts only yawns. In Goldfinger, the secret agent's helplessness in the face of the super-strong Oddjob made his predicament more suspenseful and his triumph all the more satisfying. Here, there is Jaws, a perverse, superhuman thug who kills people by opening their necks with his metal teeth, and is apparently' indestructible (he wrestles with a shark & wins). Even so, he. is not very menacing because we know that Bond can triumph over anyone.

The Spy Who Loved Me and most of the recent 007 films lack the excitement of the earlier Bonds because they have lost the necessary human element. We can no longer identify with the secret agent because he is now too sure of himself-too much of a superman. In addition, his sadism is now rampant (he kills an unarmed foe by, shooting him in the groin) and his frequent puns ("When in Egypt one should delve deeply into its beauties") make him seem more insecure and tasteless than clever.

In short, there is nothing to recommend this movie, which recalls the '60's Bonds without actually reliving them. It is a hollow, composite reincarnation-a fact made sadder when one thinks of the great times that 007 has given us in the past.

But the most apppropriate comment· comes from the' film itsellf- Bond approaches a hawk-nosed man and gives the standard "My Name is Bond. James Bond." The man replies "What of it?"