Trailer:
“The entire crime syndicate does not worry me as much as one man—Diabolik!”
Welcome to the world of retro Europe. Where woman wear scantly clad clothing and the boys wear full wet body suits….for everything. This is the world of Diabolik.
Now I suppose I have to fill the rest of you in on the character of Diabolik seeing as he is about as obscure as far as superheroes can go. The character is in fact adapted from a comic book but the reason you haven’t heard of it is because it is an Italian one. He was posed as a very Robin Hood-esc character. A villain with a softer side, heroic side to him.
Unfortunately the movie down plays this tremendously. Here Diabolic is posed as an almost completely unsympathetic villain. One who steals from anyone and everyone to appease his girlfriend’s luxurious appetite. He doesn’t really care whom he kills or what he has to do to get the goods. It makes the audience almost root for his detective nemesis more. Maybe that’s what the filmmakers were going for….maybe. The only hint of his antihero persona from the comics is when he helps try to take down the head of the crime syndicate, but that certainly was no selfless act. It just becomes hard to figure out who the real villain is and who the audience is supposed to root for.
The film opens with Inspector Ginko, an honest hard working man, trying to transport 10 million in cash when he is ambushed by the sinister thief Diabolik. The villain gleefully escapes to go have sex in the stolen money. After that it becomes Ginko's job to chase around Diabolik in the attempts to apprehend him. But if Diabolik weren't enough the crime lord Valmont makes a backhanded deal with Ginko to help deliver Diabolik and his female partner. All this builds up to Diabolik attempting to crash the entire economy and wrecking all kinds of havoc.
In truth Danger: Diabolik almost plays itself off as more of a spy action thriller than any conventional superhero film. You’ve got the rouge, dashing here, hot sports cars, gadgets, women, and even the theme music. This is where Diabolik shines as a film. They did it so well it went on to inspire the styles such films as Coppala’s CQ and Speed Racer.
Where the film falls apart is in its main character of Diabolik (John Phillip Law). Some of his exploits are amusing to watch but as a character he is just dead weight. Sure his sidekick Eva (Marisa Mell) is no impressive actor either but at least she’s good eye candy (which is more than Batman can say about Robin). I’m not looking to hear her talk. However, Diabolik virtually exists and an enigma, a puzzle for the detectives to constantly try to piece together. Because he’s not interesting as a character (due mostly to a lackluster performance) it is hard to root or feel any kind of connection to him. You don’t really care if he fails or succeeds in his exploits.
As for the age, the film is certainly dated but the majority of the effects are practical, so most of them look pretty damn good. They are nothing mind blowing, but they compliment the story well enough.
In the end Diabolik is a fun action film. It has all the makings of a great spy flick reminiscent of the early Connery era James Bond movies. The real problems emerge in the foundation of how they chose to tell the story and by eliminating the heroic part of Diabolik, it just distilled him into a villain who had no excuse to be out of jail.
FINAL RATING: 5/10- 50%
See previous Day 2: Batman (1966)-
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/100superherodays/news/?a=41214
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