SPICE WORLD ** (out of four)
{Visit my updated website with new, silly graphics and a revised guestbook: now you can recommend movies to me or the casual surfer via this "Can't Miss" section. All's fun and badly written at FILM FREAK CENTRAL:}
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/7504
starring Mel B., Mel C., Emma, Geri, Victoria, Richard E. Grant written by Kim Fuller directed by Bob Spiers
Spice World is critic-proof. What kind of person would read a review for this film before going to see it? The young, teenaged girls in attendance on Friday afternoon certainly weren't concerned with Ebert's assessment (he already declared it the worst film of 1998). Let's boil it down: if you like the Spice Girls, you will see the movie. If you don't like the Spice Girls, you will not see the movie. If there are such people out there heming and hawing over whether or not to see this flick, read on.
The Spices, alternately known as Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger, and Posh, respectively, are at the peak of their fame: the papers can't get enough of them, the fans follow them through the streets, and there isn't a day off in sight. It is because of this that the backlash begins, and it's up to harried manager Grant to ward off bad press, with assistance from a double-talking, animal loving mystery man at the top (hilariously played by Roger Moore, relishing the chance to mock Blofeld, James Bond's greatest villain). Meanwhile, two Hollywood producers (played by George Wendt and Mark McKinney) are keen to plug the girls into a big-budget movie.
The film unfolds over a one-week period in the girls' lives, during which they also encounter aliens, a haunted house, and a tour bus wired to explode. Director Bob Spiers, who helmed every hilarious episode of the BBC's "French & Saunders", has a considerably less talented main cast to work with here (let's say the Spice Girls do not possess crack comic timing), and his attempt to fill out the remaining roles with old pros is only somewhat successful, due to Fuller's juvenile screenplay. But when things turn surreal--a downpour in an office, the alien encounter--Spiers is just the man for the job, and without him the movie could have been entirely witless. And the girls are at least likeable, although they're better taken in small doses. I felt after this film spoiled on too much dime-candy.
Spice World ultimately could use more edge. The Spice Girls' image has been softened over time--when they first appeared, for instance, they were frank and unsparing in their sex talk--and the movie complies. While the filmmakers do poke fun at them, it is with a gloved finger. There is nothing biting about this mockumentary (if one can call it that); if it were a Spice World, after all, the world would be very bland indeed.
Bill Chambers; January, 1998
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews