* Some spoilers *
They may travel by horse, train, gondola or zeppelin, but a good cast cannot completely escape the pedestrian plotting and direction of 'The Assassination Bureau.'
Still, this movie offers the occasional witty line and scenic if stock footage. While there is the requisite amount of on-screen mayhem, it's somewhat comic. And unlike most modern summer movies, watching this won't kill your brain cells.
Fans of particular cast members may find 'The Assassination Bureau' worth seeking out, if ultimately less fun than it could be.
As other reviewers indicate, serious Jack London's interesting moral dilemma _ the corruption of a group of avengers dedicated to wiping out corrupt rulers _ got turned into comedy by Robert Fish, and the movie takes the slapstick bit from there.
While admittedly long in the tooth to be playing a neophyte journalist, Diana Rigg is otherwise well cast as crusading investigator Sonya Winter. With her posh elocution and boyish figure, Rigg seems just the type of prim do-gooder to take it upon herself to root out evil.
But the other leads are, ahem, cast against type.
This was the first of two movies (the other being 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service') where New Yawk Telly Savalas brought his Bronx accent to a role as an upper-crust European opposite Rigg. They actually get along quite jollily in both films, but in neither is Savalas right for his part.
Rough and tumble Oliver Reed is called upon to play the polite, polished leader of the eponymous bureau. Unfortunately, Reed has no comic timing, leaving it to the always arch Rigg to do most of the mugging in their scenes together. And while plenty of knives and swords come to hand, you could cut the sexual tension between Reed and Rigg with a plastic spoon.
Despite all this, the actors are troupers. Savalas enjoys hamming it up as Lord Bostwick, a black-hearted master of the yellow press. Reed responds to Rigg with a sort of professional courtesy, and patiently makes his way through the comic bits while waiting for the next bit of action.
Much of your response to this movie may depend on whether you enjoy similar Sixties period pieces like 'The Great Race,' with a cast of characters representing national stereotypes: glum Russian, mad German, sybaritic Frenchman, sexy Italian. There is a great supporting cast, including Curd Jurgens, Beryl Reid, Phillippe Noiret and Vernon Dobtcheff, but they must work their stuff within the confines of these types.
As they do, the story becomes a chase across Europe, albeit one featuring back projection and sound stages. Some of the individual episodes are well played, but they become repetitive as Reed heroically eludes his own henchmen.
A stop in Venice is more inventive, as well-endowed Annabella Incontrera shows up as a Borgia-style contessa. But the movie begins to become imbalanced. While Incontrera is striking sparks with Reed, Rigg is jumping around on a bed while dressed only in a towel. She's trying to dislodge a bomb _ rather than simply leaving the room. It's a scene straight out of 'The Man Show,' and obviously intended for a woman with far more bounce than poor flat-as-a-pancake Diana Rigg.
Adding to the indignity, her heretofore chastely independent character then "surrenders" to Oliver Reed _ out of nerves, apparently _ and is forced to mouth appropriate clichés. Rigg's reward is a scene where she's shown tugging on corset laces in an attempt to improve her cleavage. There's no change, but Rigg seems happy anyway and no wonder, since the garment has a balconette bra already jutting out well beyond her natural contours.
Even artificially enhanced, Rigg mysteriously loses director Basil Dearden's interest. She virtually disappears for the last 20 minutes of the movie as it becomes a boys-only ripping yarn. In truth, though, that's reasonably entertaining as the male leads are certainly prepared to buckle some swash. Reed finally comes into his own as he wins the hearts and minds of royalty _ oh, good.
The special effects are effective for the era, although viewers addicted to CGI may want to look away. As noted, the scenery is largely stock footage with sometimes glaring rear projection, but it still can be striking.
In short, viewers expecting a magnificent comic romp need to lower their sights, but 'The Assassination Bureau' makes a decent showing.
They may travel by horse, train, gondola or zeppelin, but a good cast cannot completely escape the pedestrian plotting and direction of 'The Assassination Bureau.'
Still, this movie offers the occasional witty line and scenic if stock footage. While there is the requisite amount of on-screen mayhem, it's somewhat comic. And unlike most modern summer movies, watching this won't kill your brain cells.
Fans of particular cast members may find 'The Assassination Bureau' worth seeking out, if ultimately less fun than it could be.
As other reviewers indicate, serious Jack London's interesting moral dilemma _ the corruption of a group of avengers dedicated to wiping out corrupt rulers _ got turned into comedy by Robert Fish, and the movie takes the slapstick bit from there.
While admittedly long in the tooth to be playing a neophyte journalist, Diana Rigg is otherwise well cast as crusading investigator Sonya Winter. With her posh elocution and boyish figure, Rigg seems just the type of prim do-gooder to take it upon herself to root out evil.
But the other leads are, ahem, cast against type.
This was the first of two movies (the other being 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service') where New Yawk Telly Savalas brought his Bronx accent to a role as an upper-crust European opposite Rigg. They actually get along quite jollily in both films, but in neither is Savalas right for his part.
Rough and tumble Oliver Reed is called upon to play the polite, polished leader of the eponymous bureau. Unfortunately, Reed has no comic timing, leaving it to the always arch Rigg to do most of the mugging in their scenes together. And while plenty of knives and swords come to hand, you could cut the sexual tension between Reed and Rigg with a plastic spoon.
Despite all this, the actors are troupers. Savalas enjoys hamming it up as Lord Bostwick, a black-hearted master of the yellow press. Reed responds to Rigg with a sort of professional courtesy, and patiently makes his way through the comic bits while waiting for the next bit of action.
Much of your response to this movie may depend on whether you enjoy similar Sixties period pieces like 'The Great Race,' with a cast of characters representing national stereotypes: glum Russian, mad German, sybaritic Frenchman, sexy Italian. There is a great supporting cast, including Curd Jurgens, Beryl Reid, Phillippe Noiret and Vernon Dobtcheff, but they must work their stuff within the confines of these types.
As they do, the story becomes a chase across Europe, albeit one featuring back projection and sound stages. Some of the individual episodes are well played, but they become repetitive as Reed heroically eludes his own henchmen.
A stop in Venice is more inventive, as well-endowed Annabella Incontrera shows up as a Borgia-style contessa. But the movie begins to become imbalanced. While Incontrera is striking sparks with Reed, Rigg is jumping around on a bed while dressed only in a towel. She's trying to dislodge a bomb _ rather than simply leaving the room. It's a scene straight out of 'The Man Show,' and obviously intended for a woman with far more bounce than poor flat-as-a-pancake Diana Rigg.
Adding to the indignity, her heretofore chastely independent character then "surrenders" to Oliver Reed _ out of nerves, apparently _ and is forced to mouth appropriate clichés. Rigg's reward is a scene where she's shown tugging on corset laces in an attempt to improve her cleavage. There's no change, but Rigg seems happy anyway and no wonder, since the garment has a balconette bra already jutting out well beyond her natural contours.
Even artificially enhanced, Rigg mysteriously loses director Basil Dearden's interest. She virtually disappears for the last 20 minutes of the movie as it becomes a boys-only ripping yarn. In truth, though, that's reasonably entertaining as the male leads are certainly prepared to buckle some swash. Reed finally comes into his own as he wins the hearts and minds of royalty _ oh, good.
The special effects are effective for the era, although viewers addicted to CGI may want to look away. As noted, the scenery is largely stock footage with sometimes glaring rear projection, but it still can be striking.
In short, viewers expecting a magnificent comic romp need to lower their sights, but 'The Assassination Bureau' makes a decent showing.