A View to a Kill (1985)
A View to a Kill finally marks Roger Moore's last outing as James Bond at 57 years old. After a mysterious microchip ties the death of agent 003 to the government contractor Zorin Industries, James Bond (Roger Moore) starts to investigate its owner Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) and his henchwoman May Day (Grace Jones). Where Roger Moore had a good run as Bond up to this point due to issues with the filmmaking behind his movies he really hasn't had a truly iconic outing as Bond which stands out as a highlight of the franchise and considering the mess which was Sean Connery's farewell to the role with Diamonds are Forever I had very little faith for A View to a Kill and sadly my worries turned out to be warranted.
The biggest issue with A View to a Kill surprisingly wasn't the plot, pacing, or screenplay as in Moore's other outings. Instead, the biggest issue is Moore himself. Even more so than Sean Connery in Never Say Never Again, Roger Moore is simply too old for this role. Not just is a lot of his charm gone but physically it is clear that he is not up to the roll. There are so many obvious filmmaking workarounds that were used to try and get around this but it completely ruins so much of the more dynamic and action-focused scenes within this movie. Having Roger Moore come back for this film was a clear mistake and he should have left before it got as bad as it did in this film.
The villains on the other hand, are easily the best part of this movie. Where their story isn't anything new or memorable feeling overly complicated and drawn out once again to fit the 2+ hour runtime, the acting is truly iconic. Christopher Walken gives the type of over the top and fun performance that only Christopher Walken can being just as juicy and memorable in the role of a Bond villain as you would expect. Grace Jones as May Day is a bit more surprising constantly having a strong on-screen presence that held its own even in contrast to Walken. Sadly even though the acting is memorable the film does nearly nothing memorable with either actor giving them very little to chew on that would make them overall memorable Bond villains on a similar level to someone like Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) from Goldfinger.
Where A View to a Kill is far from as painful as most other Bond films from this era it is also far from being very good. It is a competent film with some really fun villains but the plot is completely forgettable never doing anything interesting with any of its elements. It is a film that is perfectly watchable but at the same time is completely forgettable and unremarkable.
Where A View to a Kill is far from as painful as most other Bond films from this era it is also far from being very good. It is a competent film with some really fun villains but the plot is completely forgettable never doing anything interesting with any of its elements. It is a film that is perfectly watchable but at the same time is completely forgettable and unremarkable.