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Octopussy (1983)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
An irreverent but entertaining entry into the series, Octopussy pits Bond against three separate groups of villains, one of which is the defunct Soviet Union. Following the usual unconnected but impressive pre-credits sequence, the film opens in East Germany. Dressed in a clown's outfit, agent 009 (Andrew Bradford) is, somewhat ironically, fleeing from the circus. Aiming frantically for the border, 009 is pursued by knife-throwing twins (David and Tony Meyer). Unfortunately, by the barest margin, they catch up with 009 climbing the fence, leaving only once his perforated body floats down the river. British agents are made of sterner stuff than this though, which means that 009 manages to drag himself to the British embassy in the West. With life ebbing away, 009 collapses at the feet of the Ambassador (Patrick Barr), dropping a Faberge egg from his grasp.

In London, James Bond (Roger Moore) flirts shamelessly with Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) before being ushered into the presence of "M" (Robert Brown). Here it is revealed that the egg is an extremely skilled fake, of special interest given that the real one is up for auction in Sotheby's. Since the seller is anonymous but probably Russian, "M" is intrigued but puzzled by the rare purchasing opportunity. Understandably concerned that the Russians are out to raise hard currency, "M" assigns 007 to cover the bartering. While it seems that a number of parties are interested in the egg, the surprise is that Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan), an international dealer, makes an expensive bid to acquire it. Despite being manipulated into paying an extortionate rate by Bond, Kamal takes the sale and immediately leaves, for India, with his blonde companion Magda (Kristina Wayborn).

The sad part is that 007 managed to switch the real and fake eggs, leaving Kamal with a dud. Thus James is nicely set up to follow Kamal to the sub-continent, ready to continue his high-stakes gambling. Displaying remarkable chutzpah, 007 meets up with his local contact Vijay (Vijay Amritraj) and elects to confront Kamal. Given an opening by the befuddled backgammon playing of Major Clive (Stuart Saunders), Bond takes over his stake. Flourishing the egg in front of Kamal and his looming bodyguard Gobinda (Kabir Bedi), Bond dares him to make the first move. Hence 007 is able to procure leads to both General Orlov (Steven Berkoff) and Octopussy (Maud Adams), drawing him into their tangled web of double-crossing. Fortunately Bond, with the assistance of "Q" (Desmond Llewelyn), is bound to survive intact.

Following steadfastly in the tracks of preceding Bond adventures, Octopussy loosens up a little as is strays from the tone of these films. Under John Glen's direction there is an almost spoof-like quality to the story, with a number of scenes looking set to send themselves up. What rescues the movie from this fate is Moore's dogged performance. Smooth and sophisticated, his interpretation of the secret agent takes everything in its stride. With such a near-perfect pairing of script and actor, the stage is set for a balanced movie watching experience. Unfortunately the complex and not entirely consistent plot acts to disrupt this symmetry, by being both too long and occasionally silly. In the second half of Octopussy the storyline really seems to get away from Glen, leaving no one satisfied. Still, at least the gags are amusing and not too cheesy.

By now well settled into the role of Commander Bond, Moore's performance carries the good and bad points of this experience. The pros are that Moore feels right in the role and pushes all of the necessary buttons. The cons arrive in the form of boredom with the role and a measure of by-rote acting, both of which hobble Octopussy. Moore does, however, go along with the spirit of the film, as do the other principals, and that's what really matters. It's a shame that the "bad guy" roles lack substance; Jourdan is polite and sociable, though rarely scary, while Berkoff, a rogue officer, overacts shamelessly. As usual the female roles are dreadfully written, with both Adams and Wayborn initially appearing tough, then falling apart and into Bond's arms. The supporting roles are fortunately reasonable, with a neat comic turn by tennis ace Amritraj.

Despite these obvious weaknesses, Octopussy amounts to quite enjoyable fare for Bond fans. There are a number of fine action sequences where 007 risks all in an effort to elude death, with the Indian market chase standing out. For once the back-projection isn't too dodgy and the situational humour sits well with the stunts. Surprisingly though, the gadgets provided by Llewelyn play a very small part in the proceedings, which is probably a good thing given their lack of imagination and flair. So, with tighter editing Glen could have produced a first-rate Bond vehicle; as it is, three competing enemies make the plot rather too slip-shod to be really enjoyable. Still, there are worse ways to spend two hours in the dark.

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