The first Bond film of the 1970s and Sean Connery returns as James Bond. Seems like a pretty awesome formula for a Bond film. Unfortunately, it is a recipe for disaster. Connery has aged plenty since his debut as Bond nine years ago. The lines in his face and his overall aging separate him from the sexually appealing man he was in 1962. True, he can still keep up with the physical and sexual demands Bond must have, but Diamonds never took itself seriously. Diamonds are, of course, a wonderful plot device for any spy/government thriller. However, what the diamonds will be used for reaches over the top for any villain's plan thus far. It also tries too hard to throw the audience off when the first scene has Bond threatening every source as to Blofeld's whereabouts. So when Bond drowns Blofeld in a mud pit, we're supposed to cheer and rejoice that Bond's nemesis has finally died, even after we've seen in two previous films that Blofeld doesn't go down so easily.
Bond is at peace with Blofeld's apparent death when MI6 has learns that diamonds are being smuggled out of South Africa to an unknown buyer. A buyer that Bond must track down by way of posing as a smuggler himself. A buyer that Bond will find out is Blofeld (gasp!) posing as hotel millionaire Williard Whyte (none other than sausage king Jimmy Dean) so Blofeld can use the diamonds in a satellite to destroy nuclear missiles. I should also point out that Blofeld's cat seems to get more screen time than Blofeld himself.
Tiffany Case, who is also a smuggler, and one that Bond must meet to learn who the next link in the chain is, gives an initial impression as a smart criminal. She dusts very discreetly for fingerprints to see if Bond is who he says he is (even though Bond is posing as real smuggler Peter Franks) and she understands the dangerous risks she is taking as a smuggler. Yet for some reason, she becomes sluggish and dull as the movie progresses. Her smarts have suddenly turned into naive supports, especially during the assault on Blofeld's oil rig when she is dumbed down and has to run around the base in a bikini completely helpless.
Diamonds also has its periods of implausibility, like its predecessors, yet more noticeable. Bond is somehow able to sneak into the back of a van at a gas station while there is a car idling behind the van. How Bond did this without the driver of the car behind him ever knowing will always be a mystery. Perhaps the driver was so busy screaming at Tiffany to move her own car that he didn't notice the 6-foot man open and close the van door. Diamonds also uses the most cursing ever found in a Bond film thus far. Bond calls Tiffany a colorful word, though it's for red herring purposes and Shady Tree, another smuggler, wants to know where his diamonds are, while using a nice 7-letter word that doesn't use the letter 'f'.
Even though Diamonds has its Bond-necessary implements, it gave off a negative aura because of its corniness. Bond's record is private knowledge, I'm sure, but Tiffany Case knows exactly who he is after she finds Bond's passport planted on a body ("You just killed James Bond!"); Blofeld is surgically changing his face and blowing up nuclear weapons from space with a diamond; and the semi-homosexual tendencies of Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are something to be concerned about. D+
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment