Today’s quick review: What’s Up, Tiger Lily?. For his latest assignment, secret agent Phil Moskowitz (Tatsuya Mihashi) is tasked with recovering a priceless egg salad recipe stolen from the nonexistent country of Raspur. To steal the recipe back from crime boss Shepard Wong (Tadao Nakamaru), Phil must team up with spy sisters Teri (Mie Hama) and Suki (Akiko Wakabayashi) Yaki, as well as make an alliance with Wing Fat (Susumu Kurobe), Wong’s rival.
What’s Up, Tiger Lily? is a spy comedy from Woody Allen. What’s Up, Tiger Lily? is a novelty: a Japanese spy film given a new script and dubbed intoa comedy. The premise gives Woody Allen and his collaborators the chance to poke fun at the source film and the spy genre as a whole, as well as tinker with jokes in a low-stakes environment. However, the film’s disconnected scenes and short run time make it a less than fully satisfying watch.
What’s Up, Tiger Lily? is at its best when it’s cracking one-off jokes. The format of the film lends itself to inventive jabs at the medium itself, and there are a few truly clever jokes buried in the silly, moment-to-moment humor of the film. But more often than not, the humor is too shallow to be effective. The dub format means there’s little in the way of story or continuity, and there’s no attempt to make the script feel polished.
The result is a light, silly comedy that has a few good gags but lacks follow-through. Those interested in the dub format should give What’s Up, Tiger Lily? a shot, as it has some unique forms of humor and manages to be a pleasant watch. But those expecting a tightly scripted comedy masterpiece may want to steer clear. What’s Up, Tiger Lily? does have its moments, but it isn’t consistent enough to take full advantage of its premise.
For a martial arts comedy that makes extensive use of dubbing over a previous film, try Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. For a Mel Brooks comedy that toys with the medium in similar ways, try Silent Movie.
5.9 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 for experimental comedy with mixed results.