My Name Is Modesty: A Modesty Blaise Adventure (2004)

What makes My Name Is Modesty special is how it turns a familiar hostage-thriller setup into an origin story with style: a sun-baked Tangier casino, a ticking-clock standoff, and a heroine who wins as much with nerve and wit as with her fists. Scott Spiegel keeps the movie lean and moving, squeezing real tension out of its modest resources, while the cinematography gives the action an exotic, pulpy sheen that feels like a paperback come to life. Alexandra Staden makes Modesty instantly watchable—cool under pressure, quietly vulnerable when the past comes knocking, and credible when the gloves come off. It’s a scrappy, no-nonsense genre ride rather than a lavish comic-book spectacle, so if you want a tight little thriller with attitude and a likable lead, it’s an easy bet.

My Name Is Modesty is clearly trying to be a stylish origin story for a classic pulp heroine, mixing casino-hostage tension with flashbacks that explain how she became so capable. The problem is it often feels like a low-budget prologue rather than a satisfying action-thriller: the pace drifts, the dialogue can land a bit stiff, and the action is surprisingly sparse for a film selling itself on revenge and combat. Alexandra Staden has the look and some cool moments, and the Tangier setting plus the roulette-game framing device add a bit of flavor, but the overall impact is modest when it should be electric. If you’re a Modesty Blaise completist or you enjoy slow-burn, talk-heavy setups, you might be fine; if you want slick choreography, big thrills, or a fully realized spy-adventure, this probably isn’t your night.