It would seem after watching MANDRILL that the folks in South America are in love with the whole James Bond mystique. At least the folks who made this movie are. Everything from how Bond captures the attention of women to the tux to the actual image of the poster for FOR YOUR EYES ONLY is on display here. In some places it works, in others it seems played as much for camp/comedy as anything else.
Chilean born star Marko Zaror stars as Antonio Epsinoza aka Mandrill. The movie opens with Mandrill killing his mark and being well paid for his assassin skills. During the payoff he is given the option for another job, one that will lead him to the man he's sought for years, a man known as Cyclops.
Flashbacks lead us to how and why Antonio became a killer. As a child he witnessed the murder of his father and mother at the hands of a ruthless killer. Before being killed his mother was able to wound the killer and taking out one of his eyes, thus the Cyclops name later on. As Antonio grows up, he is raised by his uncle and learns what type of man his father was. It seems his father based his life on a film character who was the quintessential ladies man and spy. We never learned who he worked for but the uncle does help Antonio with his one weak area: women. How to be suave and debonair and always get the lady into bed is taught in one lesson. How this uncle who seems more sleazy looking than inspiring is part of the camp.
Back to the present and Mandrill heads to the home of a killer for hire who knows where to find Cyclops daughter, the weak link in his armor. A hand to hand martial arts battle takes place and eventually the two sit to talk. Before he has the chance to kill him Mandrill takes out the hit man.
We move on to a casino as Mandrill checks in. Working his way into a high stakes poker game, he meets the Cyclops's daughter and tries to woo her, failing in the attempt. When he meets her again as she sings karaoke, a tune that he recognizes as the one played on a locket his mother owned that was taken by Cyclops, he begins to fall for the woman. When he gets up and disco dances to the next song, she falls for him. Like I said, this film has all sorts of campy incidents throughout.
The pair end up in bed and afterwards Mandrill is captured by Cyclops and his men. Sitting at a table facing one another, a gun nearby, Mandrill is taunted by Cyclops to shot him while his daughter watches. As the men go for their guns, Mandrill kills Cyclops fulfilling the oath he made to do so when his parents were killed. The love birds part ways as enemies and the rest of the movie is filled with the daughter's attempts to kill Mandrill.
Yes as always there is something lost in the translation. The acting appears to be solid and the martial arts fight sequences are nicely done as they have been in other Zaror films I've seen. The funniest parts are the movies within the movie of the spy character he emulates, some of the cheesiest looking sequences ever put on film on purpose.
The film rarely gets boring and it's all played for laughs. No not gut busting laughs but laughs with a nod and a wink. As I said at the beginning, the film makers here absolutely love Bond and it shows. But make no mistake; this film doesn't live up to those classics. It does offer a decent amount of entertainment though and it's interesting to see how other countries treat the source material.
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