1977 action comedy
Rating: 16/20
Plot: American detective Nick Carter has to solve a crime and stop an evil botanist.
I'm not familiar with the literary detective Nick Carter that this is based on, but I suspect Oldrich Lipsky is poking fun at America similarly to how he poked fun at America with his Western satire, Lemonade Joe. Maybe that should offend me as an American, but it's really hard for me to take this country seriously right now. I also have no attachment to American detectives.
This will likely remind any 80's kids like me of Little Shop of Horrors and Inspector Gadget. Our detective hero not only has some nifty gadgets but also is a self-unaware buffoon, and when he defeats the evil botanist, a great bad guy despite being an evil botanist because he's got both the laugh and mustache down, it's more by luck and the help of others. Sure, he shows a little ingenuity and "constant vigilance," but he's still not nearly the badass he thinks he is.
With Lipsky's name attached to this, you know it's going to have its share of quirky humor and oddball touches. This has a little-person henchman whom I adored, some photographic flashbacks, a Prague inspector who eats sausages constantly (maybe it's not just American detectives Lipsky is poking fun at), and lots of goofy sound effects. It's a treat anyway, but when you add in the stop-animated effects of Jan Svankmajer, it becomes the kind of thing that has the potential to be my favorite movie of all time. Svankmajer animates the Audrey II-esque omnivorous plant, and it's a delight to see that thing devour white mice. Or to see its tongue in action because if Svankmajer's bringing a killer plant to life, you know it's going to have a tongue. Svankmajer also animates these cool little gadgets that Nick Carter employs.
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