Review of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) by Matthew D — 29 May 2017

The best of the more comic book style Bond's, like any great comic it has beautiful framing of imagery, good pacing and snappy dialogue. It also has one of the best theme songs of the series. The plot is great in concept, idea of a race between Bond and a rival agent is worthy enough to be repeated several times in later films.

Unfortunately, this is a serious weak spot here, there should have been every evidence Bond's counterpart is just as capable as he is, but the casting was a mistake as the actor is not good, to say the least.

The screenplay also takes every opportunity to undermine her competency. The main villain also suffers from writing, again the concept is good, he has a suitably preposterous scheme, but he's underwhelming as a character and is upstaged by his henchman.

Luckily while the style may be cartoonish it's taken seriously and never made to seem goofy. This means Moore is given more of a chance to shown various sides of his Bond than his first two appearances and is able to show how, in his own unique way; nobody does it better.