(This review may have minor spoilers, as if that matters)
I feel I must come to the defence of one of my favorite literary heroines. Modesty Blaise, as originally conceived by Peter O'Donnell for a long-running comic strip and series of novels, was the feminine reply to James Bond, and in many ways a superior character. She had wit, charm, poise, and a unique relationship with her partner, Willie Garvin.
Unfortunately, this movie adaptation preserves almost none of the charm that made the Modesty Blaise stories so entertaining. And now that this travesty has been released on DVD, I fear O'Donnell will lose scores of fans unnecessarily.
That's not to say that Modesty Blaise: the movie doesn't have its moments. Indeed, there are some signs of the original characters, even though O'Donnell has said only a single line of his original script remained in the finished product. Terence Stamp is almost perfect as knife-throwing Willie Garvin (brunette hair notwithstanding) and, when she has her dark wig on, Monica Vitti is a dead ringer for her comic strip counterpart. At least so long as she keeps her mouth shut.
Unfortunately, Vitti just isn't able to pull this off. Her accent is all wrong for the part -- she should have followed in the footsteps of most Bond girls before her and been dubbed, and she just isn't that convincing in the action sequences. And without this glue, the whole movie falls apart.
The script reads like an Avengers reject, with only a sparking of the wit and originality of O'Donnell's work. A number of major errors are made with the characters -- Willie is shown shooting guns, which he never touched in the books, and even worse, Willie and Modesty fall in love! The one aspect of the books and comic strip that sets Modesty Blaise apart from all other fictional heroes is the relationship between Modesty and Willie that goes far beyond romantic entanglements. The only thing I can compare it to is the relationship between Mulder and Scully on The X-Files -- and watch how fast that show died when those characters became lovers.
And don't ask me where that giant scorpion tattoo on Modesty's leg came from!
But the one element that made me just want to be sick is the song. No, not the theme, which isn't bad. I mean the love song Willie and Modesty start crooning FOR NO REASON twice in the film -- once during a driving scene, and again during the final battle. The less said about this the better.
Modesty Blaise came out in 1966, near the start of the "Bond spoof" cycle that included OK Connery (1967) and Casino Royale (1967). Both those films are infinitely preferable to this. I can only hope we don't have to wait long before a serious Modesty Blaise film is made -- if done right, it will blow 007 off the screen.
I feel I must come to the defence of one of my favorite literary heroines. Modesty Blaise, as originally conceived by Peter O'Donnell for a long-running comic strip and series of novels, was the feminine reply to James Bond, and in many ways a superior character. She had wit, charm, poise, and a unique relationship with her partner, Willie Garvin.
Unfortunately, this movie adaptation preserves almost none of the charm that made the Modesty Blaise stories so entertaining. And now that this travesty has been released on DVD, I fear O'Donnell will lose scores of fans unnecessarily.
That's not to say that Modesty Blaise: the movie doesn't have its moments. Indeed, there are some signs of the original characters, even though O'Donnell has said only a single line of his original script remained in the finished product. Terence Stamp is almost perfect as knife-throwing Willie Garvin (brunette hair notwithstanding) and, when she has her dark wig on, Monica Vitti is a dead ringer for her comic strip counterpart. At least so long as she keeps her mouth shut.
Unfortunately, Vitti just isn't able to pull this off. Her accent is all wrong for the part -- she should have followed in the footsteps of most Bond girls before her and been dubbed, and she just isn't that convincing in the action sequences. And without this glue, the whole movie falls apart.
The script reads like an Avengers reject, with only a sparking of the wit and originality of O'Donnell's work. A number of major errors are made with the characters -- Willie is shown shooting guns, which he never touched in the books, and even worse, Willie and Modesty fall in love! The one aspect of the books and comic strip that sets Modesty Blaise apart from all other fictional heroes is the relationship between Modesty and Willie that goes far beyond romantic entanglements. The only thing I can compare it to is the relationship between Mulder and Scully on The X-Files -- and watch how fast that show died when those characters became lovers.
And don't ask me where that giant scorpion tattoo on Modesty's leg came from!
But the one element that made me just want to be sick is the song. No, not the theme, which isn't bad. I mean the love song Willie and Modesty start crooning FOR NO REASON twice in the film -- once during a driving scene, and again during the final battle. The less said about this the better.
Modesty Blaise came out in 1966, near the start of the "Bond spoof" cycle that included OK Connery (1967) and Casino Royale (1967). Both those films are infinitely preferable to this. I can only hope we don't have to wait long before a serious Modesty Blaise film is made -- if done right, it will blow 007 off the screen.