The title alone says a lot about the 13th entry in Eon Productions' "James Bond" franchise. "Octopussy" leans into the camp and silliness that had become associated with the "Bond" brand in the Roger Moore era. It's one of the most colorful and inventive films in the series, brandishing a certain audacity that's as endearing as it might be eyeroll-worthy.
After a clever pre-title sequence sees Bond flying a Acrostar mini jet, 007's latest mission goes into motion due to a fake Fabrege egg and the death of a fellow 00 agent. The trail leads Bond to India, a private island home to a female cult leader named Octopussy (Maud Adams) and even a circus in West Berlin.
Most of the movie takes place in India, allowing the film to include a number of places and people that teeter on the line of offensive these days, but it does achieve the desired effect of imbuing "Octopussy" with its own flair. Compared to 1981's "For Your Eyes Only," which borrowed a lot of concepts from previous "Bond" films and failed to stand out, "Octopussy" offers a lot more visually engaging material, even if both films feel obligated to formula.
"Octopussy" stretches to offer something completely different from past "Bonds" in the form of circus acts, elephant hunts, yo-yo buzz saws, death-defying train and plane chases and even a woman in a position of power. The movie even stoops to dressing Moore in a sad clown outfit. Regular writers Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson (with George MacDonald Fraser), whether under strict orders of Albert Broccoli or of their own volition, craft the story and events in such a way that it's so obvious what parts of a "Bond" movie are immutable versus where fanciful, creative liberties can be taken. For example, every dashing Bond villain (Louis Jordan) needs a physically imposing or otherwise memorable henchman (Kabir Bedi)-this one has a turban and a curved sword.
There is plenty to groan about in "Octopussy," but it's rarely boring. Even director John Glen steps up his game in this his second "Bond" outing, getting tons of shots that drive home the magnitude of the stunt work and even some first-person perspective. These "wow" moments help to justify the simplistic motivation behind them (let's have Bond hold on to a plane in midair!")
"Octopussy" exposes in a new way the fine line Bond has always walked between clever and cheesy, inventive and outrageous - and in this particular instance, he manages to keep his balance. That said, there's a sense upon finishing this film that there couldn't be much room left for Bond to grow given these formulaic restrictions. Moore is a fabulous Bond, but six films into his tenure (and 55 years old, to boot), perhaps his hanging on was restricting Broccoli and Wilson's vision of what else Bond could be, and that the trajectory that nearly ended cinema's greatest character by the end of this decade had already been set in motion.
~Steven C
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After a clever pre-title sequence sees Bond flying a Acrostar mini jet, 007's latest mission goes into motion due to a fake Fabrege egg and the death of a fellow 00 agent. The trail leads Bond to India, a private island home to a female cult leader named Octopussy (Maud Adams) and even a circus in West Berlin.
Most of the movie takes place in India, allowing the film to include a number of places and people that teeter on the line of offensive these days, but it does achieve the desired effect of imbuing "Octopussy" with its own flair. Compared to 1981's "For Your Eyes Only," which borrowed a lot of concepts from previous "Bond" films and failed to stand out, "Octopussy" offers a lot more visually engaging material, even if both films feel obligated to formula.
"Octopussy" stretches to offer something completely different from past "Bonds" in the form of circus acts, elephant hunts, yo-yo buzz saws, death-defying train and plane chases and even a woman in a position of power. The movie even stoops to dressing Moore in a sad clown outfit. Regular writers Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson (with George MacDonald Fraser), whether under strict orders of Albert Broccoli or of their own volition, craft the story and events in such a way that it's so obvious what parts of a "Bond" movie are immutable versus where fanciful, creative liberties can be taken. For example, every dashing Bond villain (Louis Jordan) needs a physically imposing or otherwise memorable henchman (Kabir Bedi)-this one has a turban and a curved sword.
There is plenty to groan about in "Octopussy," but it's rarely boring. Even director John Glen steps up his game in this his second "Bond" outing, getting tons of shots that drive home the magnitude of the stunt work and even some first-person perspective. These "wow" moments help to justify the simplistic motivation behind them (let's have Bond hold on to a plane in midair!")
"Octopussy" exposes in a new way the fine line Bond has always walked between clever and cheesy, inventive and outrageous - and in this particular instance, he manages to keep his balance. That said, there's a sense upon finishing this film that there couldn't be much room left for Bond to grow given these formulaic restrictions. Moore is a fabulous Bond, but six films into his tenure (and 55 years old, to boot), perhaps his hanging on was restricting Broccoli and Wilson's vision of what else Bond could be, and that the trajectory that nearly ended cinema's greatest character by the end of this decade had already been set in motion.
~Steven C
Thanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more