Review 130: Live and Let Die
Loosely based on the second Bond novel Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming, When James Bond (Roger Moore) investigates the murders of three fellow agents, he soon finds himself a target, evading the vicious assassins as he closes in on the powerful Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto). Known as "Mr. Big," Kananga is coordinating a globally threatening scheme using tons of self-made heroin. As Bond tries to unravel the mastermind's plan, he meets Solitaire (Jane Seymour), the beautiful Tarot Card reader whose magical gifts are crucial to crime lord. Bond, of course, works his own magic on her.
The plot is a radical departure, not just from the book, but from previous Bond film plots about megalomanical super-villains and instead focuses on Drug trafficking which on paper, sounds like a fresh angle, but it isn't. It's just generic, dull and unengaging.
This film was clearly made to cash in on the popularity of Blaxploitation films of that era and it features many archetypes and cliches e.g. afro hairstyles, derogatory racil epithets (honky), black gangsters and pimpmobile and they make the film feel horribly dated.
I saw an interview with screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz that he wanted to adapt Live and Let Die because "It had more of an edge to it" Because all the villains were Black and at the time that was a very chancy thing because it was made at the time of the Black Panthers and really a Black revolution. But
The films central theme of Drug trafficking has been touched in various Blaxploitation films of its time but this film fails to bring anything new to the table, teaches us nothing about drugs, heroin smuggling or trafficking or the dangers they pose to society and only proceeds to drown us in scene after scene full of Blaxploitation and Voodoo tosh.
The atmosphere feels claustrophobic, spooky and creepy. Every time something Voodoo related happened onscreen, it was an oddly unsettling experience. It feels out of place and anachronistic in Bond's world and doesn't gel well with the espionage elements of the series. In an attempt to differentiate itself from previous Bond outings, it ends up being cheesy and unintresting and not to mention ghostly and dull.
Finally, the inclusion of an all black cast in supporting roles that are mainly gangsters comes across as stereotypical and downright racist - a real way to broaden the appeal of the franchise.
Returning director Guy Hamilton's direction is flat and uninspired, the production design is cheap and unappealing, the cinematography is bland, the score by George Martin is uninspired, the costumes are tacky, the locations are dull and lack flair, the pacing drags and never picks up steam and gets rolling.
The jokes miss more than they hit, the ethnic stereotyping is appaling and the scenery lacks flare.
The stunts though are decent to say the least.
Even the action scenes are either mundane or become overlong. Particularly during a boat chase on the Louisiana, Bayou Des Allemands, which it starts out exciting enough quickly became overlong and tiring to watch.
Fortunarly the title song by Paul McCartney & Wings and is fantastic, a real hight of the film one of the best songs in the series.
The acting is pretty weak for a Bond film, whilist Roger Moore may have been a favourite for the role at the time, for the most part, he just plays himself, an English gentleman who charms loads of pretty girls and makes lots of quips we're supposed to laugh at. As Bond he's really smug, overly jokey and annoying.
Julius Harris is nothing more than annoying joke as Mr. Big's henchmen Tee Hee, even though he has a prothetic arm that's supposed to be menacing, his character and the arm are mostly played for laughs, much like the rest of this film.
The comic relief provided by Clifton James' Sheriff Pepper is just granting and eyerolling and both the character and comedy feel completely out of place in the world of Bond and they're just not PC or grown up.
Possibly the only two or three good peices of casting are Jane Seymour as Solitaire, Bond's love interest and Yaphet Kotto as Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big.
Jane Seymour as Solitaire rises above the stereotypical damsel in distress character we would perceive her. Not only is she a tarot reader, she's someone who's held captive by Dr. Kananga and wants to break free from him and ultimately see's Bond as he way out of his clutches. This gives her a sensitive, ernest and vulnerable quality about which is hard to resist.
Yaphet Kotto does a decent job as Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big despite the villain not being very compelling or interesting, Kotto brings a much welcome amount of menace and charm to an otherwise weak film and character.
David Hedison makes for one of the better actors to play Felix Leiter. Even though it's only a bit part, Hedison does a decent job with what he's given.
Geoffrey Holder is great as Baron Samedi. Again, even though it's not a great character, Holder appears to be having fun with the role and has a few enjoyably creepy moments in the film.
Live and Let Die "dies" on its aspirations, 1/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
The films central theme of Drug trafficking has been touched in various Blaxploitation films of its time but this film fails to bring anything new to the table, teaches us nothing about drugs, heroin smuggling or trafficking or the dangers they pose to society and only proceeds to drown us in scene after scene full of Blaxploitation and Voodoo tosh.
The atmosphere feels claustrophobic, spooky and creepy. Every time something Voodoo related happened onscreen, it was an oddly unsettling experience. It feels out of place and anachronistic in Bond's world and doesn't gel well with the espionage elements of the series. In an attempt to differentiate itself from previous Bond outings, it ends up being cheesy and unintresting and not to mention ghostly and dull.
Finally, the inclusion of an all black cast in supporting roles that are mainly gangsters comes across as stereotypical and downright racist - a real way to broaden the appeal of the franchise.
Returning director Guy Hamilton's direction is flat and uninspired, the production design is cheap and unappealing, the cinematography is bland, the score by George Martin is uninspired, the costumes are tacky, the locations are dull and lack flair, the pacing drags and never picks up steam and gets rolling.
The jokes miss more than they hit, the ethnic stereotyping is appaling and the scenery lacks flare.
The stunts though are decent to say the least.
Even the action scenes are either mundane or become overlong. Particularly during a boat chase on the Louisiana, Bayou Des Allemands, which it starts out exciting enough quickly became overlong and tiring to watch.
Fortunarly the title song by Paul McCartney & Wings and is fantastic, a real hight of the film one of the best songs in the series.
The acting is pretty weak for a Bond film, whilist Roger Moore may have been a favourite for the role at the time, for the most part, he just plays himself, an English gentleman who charms loads of pretty girls and makes lots of quips we're supposed to laugh at. As Bond he's really smug, overly jokey and annoying.
Julius Harris is nothing more than annoying joke as Mr. Big's henchmen Tee Hee, even though he has a prothetic arm that's supposed to be menacing, his character and the arm are mostly played for laughs, much like the rest of this film.
The comic relief provided by Clifton James' Sheriff Pepper is just granting and eyerolling and both the character and comedy feel completely out of place in the world of Bond and they're just not PC or grown up.
Possibly the only two or three good peices of casting are Jane Seymour as Solitaire, Bond's love interest and Yaphet Kotto as Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big.
Jane Seymour as Solitaire rises above the stereotypical damsel in distress character we would perceive her. Not only is she a tarot reader, she's someone who's held captive by Dr. Kananga and wants to break free from him and ultimately see's Bond as he way out of his clutches. This gives her a sensitive, ernest and vulnerable quality about which is hard to resist.
Yaphet Kotto does a decent job as Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big despite the villain not being very compelling or interesting, Kotto brings a much welcome amount of menace and charm to an otherwise weak film and character.
David Hedison makes for one of the better actors to play Felix Leiter. Even though it's only a bit part, Hedison does a decent job with what he's given.
Geoffrey Holder is great as Baron Samedi. Again, even though it's not a great character, Holder appears to be having fun with the role and has a few enjoyably creepy moments in the film.
Live and Let Die "dies" on its aspirations, 1/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
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