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Comments
I never thought AVTAK would have been a good launching pad for Dalton (maybe Brosnan?) but it's intriguing to think what Dalton would have done with Grace Jones and Christopher Walken.
She is however stunning to look at (imo) but I think Moore needed an older actress to be paired with.
Chiles is actually more convincing as a cold agent than Barbara was, the thing is Chiles didn't have anything to do with the character, I liked Holly Goodhead for how she was played with more agency in the film, with Barbara Bach, she had to play with the character's complexity and emotion about her boyfriend being killed and exacting a revenge on Bond, and a Russian accent, Barbara failed it, then the character didn't helped who did nothing for most of the film, after the Egyptians scenes at least, when she's supposed to be the Proto Wai Lin (TND).
Holly Goodhead, I don't think are that much of a demanding character, all she needed was to be a capable fighter and an agent, an action heroine, she didn't need to show any emotions, and her background was not as strong as Anya Amasova (who had a Siberian Survival Course and a Major to boot and had dead boyfriend that she needed to avenge), but Holly did more than what she was written as she showed off her fighting skills, so, in many ways, she improved on Anya, and Lois Chiles didn't have to dealt with emotional scenes and an accent.
I get that Chiles' performance is a bit weak, but yes, it has something to do more with the material, Chiles didn't have to work much with the character, other than to be a capable fighter aiding Moore's Bond, it's not that Chiles' performance is better, but the material elevated Chiles' more than Bach, because Chiles did what the material asked, she played a convincing CIA Agent, that's all, nothing more, nothing less.
The frustrating thing about Bach, was the character was more than what she had shown, she was supposed to be a complex character with a dead boyfriend she's going to avenge and confront Bond for killing her lover, then she had this Siberian Survival Course, a Major of KGB, the top Agent of Russia, and of course, a Russian, but Bach, failed to deliver the performance, the way she delivered her lines was like she's reading it straight from the script while she's 'acting', it's just flat, the same for facial expressions, she's just flat and wooden, I didn't get a sense of anger or any emotion from her deliveries when she vowed Bond to kill him after the mission when she learned that he killed her boyfriend, or when she pointed the gun at Bond in the end, there's no emotion, she just stared blank and probably minding being beautiful in that shot (thanks to her waterproof makeup), and the accent was strange and odd, then to top it off, she didn't showed any skill that would prove her training and her background as a Top KGB Agent (a Major).
I know, those two are a bit different, but Chiles probably had an advantage of delivering a less demanding character, Bach, on the othe hand, had been tasked with delivering a character more than she could chew.
I don't think Bach is quite that bad. I've never had a problem seeing her as this very business-like Russian agent whose exterior breaks a bit during the story. I'm a sure a better actress would have put in a more layered performance, but ultimately all I have to do on is what we got. For whatever reason I don't find that Chile's natural charm comes through in MR (again, very stilted performance in a number of scenes - very odd).
I'd say someone like Michelle Yeoh doesn't have a lot to work with as Wai Lin but she has quite a lot of charm in TND. So I don't think it's always a case of the character needing to be more complex...
Yes, I agree, a better actress would've given a more nuanced and layered performance, when it comes to a very business like Russian Agent, the best example of it would be someone like Xenia Onatopp, or Pola Ivanova, I just think both are played very well (Bach's accent was also a bit strange, she should've been dubbed instead).
Famke Janssen and Fiona Fullerton still acted like humans, Bach acted more like a barbie doll 😅, when I've learned that Bach was set to return in AVTAK, initially, in place of Pola Ivanova, I can't imagine her in that hot tub scene, that banter Fullerton had with Moore, the expressions, I just can't imagine Bach, thankfully she didn't returned.
Onnatop's a very different character. But Janssen looks like she's having a great time with it. Not sure if Pola ever really stood out to me in terms of the actress's performance though, but maybe I haven't seen AVTAK in a while. But if anything perhaps Bach's 'flatness' makes her more memorable in some strange way and brings out that side of the character more, especially when we see the contrast with her warming to Bond or telling him she'll kill him (not that I'd call her performance completely flat even if it lacks that more dynamic element a better actress might have given it - I think she does better than many give her credit for honestly).