This is another example, to my mind, of how a sequel can drop the baton. The producers of IN LIKE FLINT decided to formularize his movies and that of course just made them more predictable than they needed to be. Flint is back adding skydiving practice to his impressive resume' of survival skills, when he finds out once again that the world is in a pickle and simply can't go on without his able assistance.
The title really says it all. The producers in their infinite wisdom decided that 'sex sells' and that they would make Derek Flint a super spy version of Errol Flynn rather than unduly channeling his affinity with super sleuth Sherlock Holmes. Lee J. Cobb does his Watson bit to hilarious perfection, but the freshness is gone. We have simply seen it all before, and quite frankly, seen it done better.
The harem is back, and as the dudes in my neighborhood would gleefully if mistakenly exclaim, Flint is 'back to Mackin' ', but the return of this plot device seems to belabor the point. A fresher turn would have been to have Flint scuba diving and working with a quartet of high school or college students assisting him in deciphering the language of dolphins for his dictionary. That would have made his stint with the four original ladies seem more like a study in Human Sexuality complete with a new reference book. This would have re-enforced the image of Flint as the perpetual star student too involved now with his role as a polymath to give much of a care for the troubles of this world. Originally, it was this reluctance to enter the fray of world affairs again, because he was having too much fun learning new things and becoming expert in many fields that made Flint such a quirky, likeable character.
But then again, I digress...
There is a wonderful cat and mouse chase scene a little more than half-way through the film, but it really is misplaced. Flint comes across as showboating albeit it in a hooting, funny way, but the chase goes no place with nobody saved as in the prior film, and Flint is basically back where he started. The incandescence of the party atmosphere, which so permeated the first film, seems to go out like a pilot light at this point. This scene, for my money, should have been better welded to the RESOLUTION, which leaves Jean Hale as Lisa, gazing up at a view screen, in worshipful admiration of Flint's womanizing inside a Russian space capsule with giggling cosmonauts, the odd woman out.
I grew wistful, for it seemed the party was over, and I was merely waiting for the hostess to tell me I could go home now....
Still in all, there are humorous bits of business with Andrew Duggan playing the President, and the sassy, voluptuous Yvonne Craig doing Go-Go as a Russian ballerina, that make this film at times an engaging exercise in silliness basted with gender politics.
A lot of people, I gathered from other reviews, liked this one even better than the original. But I cannot say I am among those in that camp. I have even read that Coburn's producers were considering doing a half dozen of these Flint adventures near the outset, possibly owing to having hit upon a formula for this.
But I wouldn't have seen much point to this. After all, where is the joy once Sherlock Holmes has left the building?
The title really says it all. The producers in their infinite wisdom decided that 'sex sells' and that they would make Derek Flint a super spy version of Errol Flynn rather than unduly channeling his affinity with super sleuth Sherlock Holmes. Lee J. Cobb does his Watson bit to hilarious perfection, but the freshness is gone. We have simply seen it all before, and quite frankly, seen it done better.
The harem is back, and as the dudes in my neighborhood would gleefully if mistakenly exclaim, Flint is 'back to Mackin' ', but the return of this plot device seems to belabor the point. A fresher turn would have been to have Flint scuba diving and working with a quartet of high school or college students assisting him in deciphering the language of dolphins for his dictionary. That would have made his stint with the four original ladies seem more like a study in Human Sexuality complete with a new reference book. This would have re-enforced the image of Flint as the perpetual star student too involved now with his role as a polymath to give much of a care for the troubles of this world. Originally, it was this reluctance to enter the fray of world affairs again, because he was having too much fun learning new things and becoming expert in many fields that made Flint such a quirky, likeable character.
But then again, I digress...
There is a wonderful cat and mouse chase scene a little more than half-way through the film, but it really is misplaced. Flint comes across as showboating albeit it in a hooting, funny way, but the chase goes no place with nobody saved as in the prior film, and Flint is basically back where he started. The incandescence of the party atmosphere, which so permeated the first film, seems to go out like a pilot light at this point. This scene, for my money, should have been better welded to the RESOLUTION, which leaves Jean Hale as Lisa, gazing up at a view screen, in worshipful admiration of Flint's womanizing inside a Russian space capsule with giggling cosmonauts, the odd woman out.
I grew wistful, for it seemed the party was over, and I was merely waiting for the hostess to tell me I could go home now....
Still in all, there are humorous bits of business with Andrew Duggan playing the President, and the sassy, voluptuous Yvonne Craig doing Go-Go as a Russian ballerina, that make this film at times an engaging exercise in silliness basted with gender politics.
A lot of people, I gathered from other reviews, liked this one even better than the original. But I cannot say I am among those in that camp. I have even read that Coburn's producers were considering doing a half dozen of these Flint adventures near the outset, possibly owing to having hit upon a formula for this.
But I wouldn't have seen much point to this. After all, where is the joy once Sherlock Holmes has left the building?