cinema history class: for y'ur height only

Session: Wild, Wild Films From a Wild, Wild World, Week 2
Movie: For Y'ur Height Only (1981)
Directed by Eddie Nicart

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
The diminutive secret agent 00 is sent to take down the crime boss, Mr. Giant, who has kidnapped a scientist as part of a plot to take over the world. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:

As background, it's important to know about Weng Weng, whose birth name was Ernesto de la Cruz. De la Cruz was a tiny baby and never grew to a normal height, topping out at 2'9". As a child he was fascinated by action films and took up karate. He was able to exploit his height (or, more accurately, others were able to exploit him and his height) to become a star of Filipino cinema. He starred in a variety of exploitation films that parodied other film types. For Y'ur Height Only was a not-so-subtle comedic take on James Bond films.

For what it's worth, this was the first Weng Weng film I saw. There was, in a sense, a huge buildup to this. Sean is a huge Weng Weng fan, and has been pushing for a while for Keith to work Weng Weng into a class. And Keith did. But even then there was an extended discussion -- Keith was going to show us D'Wild Wild Weng, which is a take on Western movies. Sean convinced him to show For Y'ur Height Only, arguing that it's a better Wengtroduction.

That said, I have not become a fan.

FYHO does a reasonably good job of parodying the James Bond movies -- especially the gadgetry and the womanizing. But as it goes on it seems to be more and more of a one-trick pony. There's a whole lot of him sliding on the floor and shooting people as he comes to a stop. Oh, and there's also a whole lot of Weng Weng kicking his adversaries in the balls. After a while it gets tiresome. That said, there was some dialogue that I found amusing and laughed at.

It also would have been  better if the plot had been more comprehensible. At times it felt like one of those modern action movies where each scene kind of makes sense on its own, but the connections between them are loose at best.

In all fairness, I should acknowledge that my reaction to this movie is informed by my lack of interest in James Bond movies and their parodies. Except for Get Smart. That show was genius.

Ratings:

Me: 6
Christina: 9 (on the fun scale)
Ethan: 2
Sean: 4 out of 4