Admittedly, the prologue, showing young Simon Templar at an Asian orphanage (?) learning the tricks of the trade, was unnecessary (don't they remember screenwriting rule #1: never begin the film with a flashback?), and many of the film's liberties are wildly unrealistic (side note: why are nuclear physicists always beautiful blondes?), but there are compensations. A heroine, for instance, that has a heart condition, and who must take pills in moments of great excitement is something altogether new: vulnerability brought to a new level. It's also nice to have a hero whose motives are always in doubt: ambivalence makes a triumphant return to the cinema! Stop the presses!
The story, in brief. Simon Templar (Val Kilmer), as a professional burglar, constantly changes identity in order to amass himself an enormous fortune. He promises himself he will retire after passing $50 million, and can do so with one more job: selling the secrets of cold fusion to the Russian mob after stealing them from an American physicist in Oxford (Elisabeth Shue).
He is, of course, double-crossed, and All Hell Breaks Out. Right Does Prevail, in the end, however (could it any less?) Boy Gets Girl, and there is plenty of room left for a sequel, though the grosses of the film will probably not lead to one.
One can hardly judge genre films on the same scale as great films by great auteurs. This one was enjoyable by Bondian standards, however, even if a little too pat, with an ending a bit protracted. Still: something different, and Different is Good.
Three stars
Copyright 1997 by Dale G. Abersold
