My Name Is Modesty: A Modesty Blaise Adventure (2004)

This is a creditable stab at telling Modesty Blaise's origin story by way of flashbacks forming part of a robbery / hostage story while Modesty is on her way to forming The Network in Tangier.As a stand alone film for someone who has never read a novel or comic strip, I think it is probably quite successful, if a little lacking in production value.The reservations I have derive from the portrayal of Modesty herself. On one hand, she is very self assured, which is good: conversely, she doesn't seem (yet?) to have developed the moral sensibilities she often shows in the novels, whereby she will happily use sexual tricks to win strategy points: here she sometimes comes across as prudish. Also, while actress Alexandra Staden looks the part, particularly facially, she never quite convinces in combat scenes: she very clearly comes across as someone who is delivering moves in a choreographed routine, not someone who's movements are fluidly derived from almost subconscious processing of all relevant elements.A worthy attempt, but not entirely successful.

Me neither, but this flick is unfortunately one of those movies that are too bad to be good and too good to be awful, which makes it utterly pointless and a total waste of time. There's nothing more uninteresting than a mediocre movie, and My Name is Modesty: Whatever the subtitle is takes mediocrity to a new level. It's full of B-actors but isn't any fun whatsoever because it takes itself seriously. It sets itself up as a thriller but then turns into some kind of growing-up drama, flashback style. The beautiful Alexandra Staden, smothered beyond recognition under makeup, more resembles a cast member from Top Model than Modesty Blaise. I'm not one of those die-hard comic book freaks who wants every adaptation of his precious "graphic novels" to be pitch-perfect - in fact I've never even read Modesty Blaise - all I wanted was a decent movie to watch. But this wasn't it. The film feels half-finished, with a weak and very unexciting conclusion to a rather weak plot. It also takes its audience for idiots, explaining every tiny detail of the plot to us and showing flashbacks of things that happened three scenes ago (I guess they think we all have Alzheimers).Now I love a good B-movie - what's better than just turning your brain off and swallowing the cinematic equivalent of a Calzone? - and "Modesty" is directed by none other than Scott Spiegel, who brought us the wonderful splatter crap flick From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money! I loved From Dusk Till Dawn 2 because it brought everything a bad B-movie should bring to the table - nudity, gore, guns, you name it. "Modesty" is just dull. The flashback concerning Modesty's life isn't interesting. The acting isn't bad enough to be laughed at. In fact, I kinda liked Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau's (hey buddy, pseudonyms are your friends!) performance as the baddie.So overall it's just lame. Weak. Uninspired. Call it what you will. Don't watch anything because Tarantino presents it, people. This is just a very forgettable, half-hearted thriller, and it never tries to be more than that. Allow me to round off this review with a very lame pun (seriously, even I'm cringing): My Name Is Modesty: A Modesty Waste of Time - 4/10

I have been reading Modesty Blaise comics and novels since the '70s. The character is strong, intelligent, charismatic. The stories are, for the most part, action-packed, well thought out and not campy.So what is it about Modesty Blaise that makes people create second or third rate movies of her starring actresses who couldn't be less like her unless they 90 year old women with blond hair and no teeth? I think Modesty could be a very successful movie if the producers/directors/whoevers would stop trying to make the character and the stories into something entirely else. Even if they have no respect or interest in the books or comics (which is obviously the case), don't they want our money??? Modesty Blaise fans are used to paying graphic novel prices for our Modesty (which are almost $20 per book) and we pay much more than the price for the average paperback for the novels when we have to replace one.So what is the point of giving us something most of us will never enjoy and will never pay good money for? I love Peter O'Donnell's work but his involvement in a project does not guarantee anything. His involvement in the DC comic certainly didn't save it - even though it was taken from the novel. But even if DC convoluted the story so no one but a Modesty fan could enjoy it, they DID try and I did buy a copy for my collection. That's certainly more than can be said for either movie :(I would love to see a reasonably well-cast version of Modesty, Willie, Sir Gerald. I'm not greedy - I don't expect great casting, although I would be ecstatic. But a story that looks and feel like Modesty will get me to the theater several times minimum and guarantee I will be buying the DVD. The sad part is with each failure, this wonderful and dynamic character gets thrust into the mind of the movie industry and the public as a failure. And that's a real shame!

While the main story is supposed to take place in Morocco, this movie was shot in foggy Romania in 18 days on a very tight budget. However broken their cards may be, the actors and the crew play them with remarkable skill and commitment, so that in the end I found the result both touching and graceful. Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau provides a formidable performance as the bad guy. The script and direction provide some gems. Whether you will like the movie or not, however, will probably depend on your take on Alexandra Staden in the title role. Other reviewers have pointed out Staden's inadequacies as Modesty Blaise. They may have a point, but I found her interpretation delightful and very fitting. Modesty manages to overcome terrible odds through discipline, innate talent and courage. Staden appears to be doing the same here.