Bond lives on and let's others die.
Slight racism aside, this movie really is a pick-me-up after the awful Diamonds Are Forever. I think a lot of it has to do with a lowering of the stakes. Instead of trying to stop a comic book villain from blowing up the earth, we have a drug lord simply trying to improve his business, and Bond is going to put a stop to it.
Blaxploitation aside, I think the first half of the movie works well, and a lot of has to do with the fact that Bond is back to being a spy again: tailing people, putting clues together, getting caught and escaping from danger. And then there's the soundtrack. I admit that I'm not much of a Beatles fan, but it's hard to ignore how infectious Paul McCartney's theme is, especially how it's used throughout the rest of the movie as a motif. Fun stuff.
Unfortunately, the movie starts to fall apart towards the end. While leaving Bond to eaten by crocodiles is gimmicky, I was mostly okay with it, as leaving Bond to die a slow death is simply a given at this point. However, when the motorboat chase starts up, things get a little too silly, and yes, I'm referring the redneck police officers who suddenly join the chase, featuring a spitting, swearing, Southern sheriff. I get that he's supposed to be this comic relief character, but I generally found everything he did to be rather annoying and taking away from the character I wanted to see in action. You know, Bond? The reason I'm watching this film?
This leads into a scene with the whole Voodoo ceremony thing, and I guess it's in theme with the rest of the film, being occult and all, but it feels like it's there just to have a scary scene with a bond girl in danger. However, when Bond somehow "discovers" the villain's secret base, things really start to not make sense. It really does feel like they had to put in an underground base for Bond to face the villain simply for tradition's sake, and that didn't make a lot of sense to me. The ending itself is kind of lame as well, with the Big Bad dying in such a strange and gimmicky way.
Perhaps I wouldn't be so critical of the ending if we had a decent villain. For all the strength of the plot, Kananga isn't much of a bad guy. It's kind of a shame because when we first see Mr. Big, it feels like we're getting someone interesting, but when it's revealed that Mr. Big is just a front for Kananga, all of his villainous presence just fizzles.
Of course, I haven't said much about the new Bond yet. Roger Moore doesn't seem too bad in this, but I think it's because of something I've mentioned before: he's simply trying to be a (admittedly good) spy. Sure, he has all of Bond's quirks and charms, they don't dominate his character, and it allows you to see how professional he is. You see, after a few movies, Connery's Bond feels nigh untouchable, like a superhero. Lazenby's almost comes across as a tragic hero. In Live and Let Die, Moore feels like how Bond was in the first film: doing his job and doing it well. (In fact, much of this film gave me a strong Dr. No vibe.) While I still prefer Laxenby over Moore (so far), I think they made a good choice for moving Bond forward into the next decade.
Ranking this one is actually going to be kind of hard (and I speculate it's only going to get harder the more I do!). I think I enjoyed You Only Live Twice more than this one, so it really comes down to whether or not it's better than Dr. No. For now, I'm actually going to say "no." While Dr. No had it's flaws, so does this one, and Dr. No had a much more memorable villain, so I'm going to place Live and Let Die right below it.
So, I've begun the long run of the Roger Moore era, and I've been told to not expect much by those I trust. We'll see how things go with the next one!
Bond films by rank:
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service
- Goldfinger
- You Only Live Twice
- Dr. No
- Live and Let Die
- Thunderball
- From Russia With Love
- Diamonds Are Forever
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