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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A hugely enjoyable View!, 2 May 2004
I find it astonishing that many people rate Bond movies based on the performance of Bond himself (Witness Lazenby's perpetual drubbing over what is actually a fine performance in an excellent Bond film ('On Her Majesty's Secret Service')). 'A View to a Kill' is victim to the same sort of unfair judgement. Roger Moore does look like he has aged about a decade since 'Octopussy' and the film's particularly youthful Bond girl, matched with a strong focus on athletic stunts, stretches our willingness to accept him in the title role past breaking point (Although, to be fair, Moore wanted to give up the role after 'Octopussy'). However, I find that I prefer this film to 'Octopussy' (I hear the sound of Bond fans choking), and feel that it has been overlooked simply due to the inappropriateness of Moore in the title role.Okay, it is far from a perfect Bond movie; Stacey Sutton is a forgettable Bond girl, due to no fault of Tanya Roberts, who gives as good a performance as could be given with such a weak character. Despite showing considerable mental and physical muscle in the first half of the film, ahe seems to spend the final climactic three quarters of an hour squealing and occasionally acting as a convenient plot device to explain the science of Zorin's scheme to the audience. The script is also fairly thin, both physically and artistically (but when has that stopped a Bond film?), failing to wring out even a couple of memorable one-liners. Although these criticisms may seem seriously detrimental to the film as a whole, they cannot overcome the serious strengths of the film in other areas. Christopher Walken is fantastic as the psychotic Max Zorin, being, in my mind, one of the most sinister and memorable villains the series has ever produced (Zorin's twisted laughter as he pointlessly guns down dozens of his own employees is a particularly memorable scene). In a film usually described as farcical, Walken provides a bad guy of unusual depth and credibility. Grace Jones is also a hugely effective presence as the predatory Mayday, successfully banishing all memory of the ineffectual Ms. Sutton from the viewer's mind. Patrick Macnee is also excellent as Sir Godfrey Tibbett, and their are numerous other memorable support performances. But lets come to the most important reason why this is a good Bond film - It's a very enjoyable piece of cinema. The film moves along at a frenetic pace, especially in the second half, with a series of incredible set-pieces; the climactic scene on the top of the Golden Gate Bridge is, for my money, the most exciting showdown in the series' history, again enhanced by Walken's gripping performance and a truly fantastic incidental score by John Barry. So, forget the script, if you want a Bond film that consistently entertains (which face it, is what we all want from a Bond film), there are few better than 'A View to a Kill'.
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