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

The Worst Film Ever

Sorry, this movie sucks

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

In case you don't know, I'd like to make it clear that this is a true story.The first flashback actually happened. When the creator of Modesty Blaise, Peter O'Donnell, was a serving soldier he gave food to a feral child who carried a stick with a nail through it as a weapon.He hoped (as do I) that she grew up to some kind of happy life. It seems unlikely, though.The remaining flashback sequences are a fleshing-out of O'Donnell's own back-story for the character, and ring true to the original.My argument with the rest of the film, the sequences with Modesty Blaise in the casino, is that they're not up to the standard of plotting of the books and cartoon strips. To give one instance, Modesty Blaise has a gun held to her head and dragged behind a curtain. As anyone who knows the stories is aware, a villain who holds a gun within arm's reach of either Modesty Blaise or Willie Garvin is in for a serious kicking.This film is an encouraging step in the right direction, but I still worry that the next film in the series, if there is one, will be poorly plotted.

There's a great deal of material from the Modesty Blaise comics and novels that would be great in a movie. Unfortunately, several attempts have been made and they've fallen short of the great potential in the character. So, no, this isn't the Modesty you know from the comic strip (currently reprinted in nice editions from Titan Books). This is Modesty some 5 or 6 years prior to the first strip, and from what you can piece together from her back-story, it's accurate.Miramax had the movie rights to the character, with Quentin Tarantino acting as advocate and technical adviser. Early drafts of the Miramax project attempted to adapt one of the best novels, but always managed to leave out some crucial element. Tarantino wasn't happy with any of them, and offered to remove his name from the project so they could proceed. To the studio's credit, they wanted to keep him in the process, since they knew he "got" the character and her world. With the movie rights close to expiration, they decided to try a very different approach. The result was "My Name is Modesty," a small direct-to-video movie that introduces the character.The movie does not introduce Willie Garvin or Sir Gerald. These characters are important to Blaise's adventures throughout most of the published stories. What this movie accomplishes is showing the strength of the character by herself. She never loses her composure, and you never doubt that she's in charge even unarmed in a room full of gangsters with guns. Most of the movie takes place within a casino, which undoubtedly saved money on the production. It doesn't matter. The film does not come across as cheap. Instead, it gives a fairly comprehensive (and believable) back-story for the character and demonstrates just how far she thinks ahead. Should Miramax adapt any of the comic stories or novels now, they've laid out the character's background nicely and won't have to spend much time on her "origin." I realize the words "Direct-to-Video" don't inspire confidence, but this film is well worth a look.

When I started this DVD, I expected little. All I was hoping for was something better than the awful 60's anti-Modesty. And I did get something better, much better! Well, the start wasn't too good. The opening titles are downright bad, a collection of cuts from the movie, feels really cheap. But then it gets much better. We first meet Modesty as a kid, meeting some soldiers in an anonymous war. I feared that this sensitive scene would end by having some enemies showing up for some mandatory action, but that action was fortunately skipped.The entire movie is based on the shortest MB story of all, "The beginning", which briefly summarizes how Modesty came to be herself, and the movie is very true to the story. The main characters, Lob and Louche, are exactly what they should be. There is some action and violence, but never more than what is called for. It is rather a thriller, using threat rather than action, and it works.Garvin does not appear, which means that a second movie could feature Modesty meeting him, and their activity in the Network. If that sequel is made, and it is made as good as this, it will be very worthwhile.Well, is Alexandra Staden a good Modesty? I think so. Although not a perfect lookalike of Holdaway's drawings, she works well as the young Modesty. She is cool, tough and convincing, very far from the blonde bimbo of the 60's movie.For a low-budget movie, this is quite good. It is far from a top movie, but as an MB fan, the movie is the first real MB movie. Let there be more!

My Name is Modesty is a low-budget film that tells the story of the origins of Modesty Blaise. It's not that the movie is terrible, it's just not what I was expecting or hoping for. While I've been aware of the Modesty Blaise character for years, I'm not overly familiar with the comic strips or the graphic novels, so I'm coming into this movie as something as an outsider. That may be part of the reason for my disappointment. I was expecting more action and more comedy. The film is dialogue driven. I suppose I was looking for something with a little more camp value. As it is, My Name is Modesty is a deathly serious film. There are very few, if any, "light" moments. The acting, at least from Alexandra Staden, is acceptable but nothing outstanding. As others have commented, she does appear a little too frail to be completely believable in the title role. What action scenes there are in My Name is Modesty are one of the films weakest points. I never bought into the notion that this woman could handle a band of trained killers.I really hope Quentin Tarantino goes ahead and makes the rumored a big budget film based on the Modesty Blaise character. I'm convinced the concept has a lot of potential and I would very much look forward to it.