OCTOPUSSY (1983)
A film review by Andrew Hicks
Copyright 1996 Andrew Hicks / Fatboy Productions
OCTOPUSSY (1983) **1/2
I had no idea what this movie was about but decided to watch it anyway because--hey, who can resist a title like that? And it makes you wonder what kind of woman actually has eight of those. Fine, I'm a pervert, but what kind of a reaction does a title like OCTOPUSSY expect to elicit?
OCTOPUSSY is one of the more absurd episodes in the James Bond series, but then I'm pretty sure every Roger Moore effort tips the scale of absurdness. And when the female lead is someone named Octopussy, the absurdity springs up. The perversity seems to spring up too, at least in a small dose, especially when Octopussy reveals that her name was given to her by her father, who always called her "my little Octopussy." Funny, I didn't know Jerry Lee Lewis had a daughter.
This time, Bond is out to some some Faberge egg forgers (the bastards!), led by Octopussy and her male partner Kamal (at least they didn't name him Octodick). Bond meddles in Kabal's business one time too many and ends up captive in his palace. He escapes, but comes back a little later to get some octopussy. The two find out afterwards that they have more in common than just compatible body parts and, when Kabal doublecrosses her by placing the customary atomic bomb (no Bond movie would be complete without one), Octopussy joins Bond's side.
OCTOPUSSY has its share of good and bad scenes. Good-- the plane chase teaser, the auction scene, the train chase and the circus scenes at the end. Bad--the other plane chase, the stuffed sheep head dinner (which pushes the limits of good taste... Monkey brains are okay, sheep's heads, no.) and that overlong chase through the streets of India, culminating in one of the bad guys being impaled on a bed of nails. "Get off my bed!" an Indian yells. A failed comic relief moment, to say the least. Almost as bad as my Octodick joke.
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