I think the only way you can accept the Bond films is to imagine there are two versions of the same character— the Sean Connery Bond who was oft times a cold calculated killer, and the Roger Moore Bond who was more gentlemanly with a bit more humor. George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig are in the Connery camp, while Pierce Brosnan is in the Roger Moore one. Roger Moore isn’t Sean Connery, and in this early one they’re trying to play him that way, but it doesn’t work. Moore seems out of his element when he’s trying to be stern, and that seems to be the case because in interviews it’s been said that he was the fittest of Bonds at the time, and that he was made out of granite, but he didn’t like anytime he was asked to be mean.
Here’s the story for this one, Bond has to travel to the United States to chase after a heroin dealing outfit that is somehow taking out secret agents. He starts in Harlem and ends up in Lousiana dealing with voodoo rituals and bumbling sheriffs. The villain this time is Mister Big, and his right hand man is the sinister Baron Samedi who might actually be the spectre who leads the dead rather than just a guy. Overall it’s an entertaining adventure movie and if you can let go your preconceptions of Connery as Bond you might find yourself liking this. The comedy with the sheriff is uncomfortably bad, but it’s going to get worse because…
James Bond will be back in MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN and so will the sheriff.
BOND: Roger Moore is a different kind of Bond, get over it. ***1/2
THEME MUSIC: Paul McCartney and Wings— you either dig this or you don’t. ***
VILLAIN: I don’t hate Mr Big as much as most Bond fans do, and Baron Samedi is great. ****
OVERALL BOND RATING: ***1/2