Jayson Bend: Queen and Country (2015) Reviews

• Very Fun Bond Parody Film - Done Seriously

  fsteele12016-11-24

  "Jayson Bend: Queen and Country" is a successful attempt to tell a James Bond story from a gay perspective. Jayson Bend (Davis Brooks) is Agent 009, working for the UK's Royal Intelligence Ministry. It has come to the ministry's attention that Raymond Perdood (Paul Norton), Founder and CEO of Perdood Hair Emporium (a world-wide chain of hair salons) is both up to no good and in the process of launching a satellite (supposedly to broadcast TV shows into the hair salons). Gathering up clues, the agency is sending Jayson Bend to Geneva to sort things out. Jayson's contact in Geneva is Swiss Intelligence agent Alec DeCoque (Tom Read Wilson), who initially treats Jayson with some disdain but provides useful background on Perdood's operations. There is a focus on a supplier, the Helix Balls Institute, where Dr. Tu Yung (Chris Lew Kum Hoi) heads up the Genetic Research Division. Jayson and Alec discover Perdood's plan for world conquest and have to act quickly. The movie, while providing gay characters and perspective, tries to hew as closely to the James Bond film formula as possible. There are equivalents to M (the spy boss), Q (the inventor), and Miss Moneypenny (M's secretary), good Bond girls (Alec) and bad Bond girls (Dr. Yung), Bond's martini, the weapon-car, the other fancy gadgets, and the spectacular opening scene. Playing the conventions straightforwardly, not veering into heavy camp, works very well and is a key to enjoying the film. A lot of money goes into Bond films. Nowhere near as much is available here. The producers chose to keep the quality up of what is shown and to reduce the length of the film to 49 minutes of action. The computer-generated shots are very good and compare well with similar scenes in older Bond movies. The sets can't be as huge, of course, but they fit and are sometimes computer-enhanced. Many of the actors are new to film, but they all come across suitably; there is no need to cringe for any of them. Davis Brooks plays Jayson Bend as a person with an underlying sense of humor, not grimly. The story moves along with logic and excitement. Skin shots are relatively restrained, with Jayson and Dr. Yung having the most. There is a gay sex scene, tastefully enough done, with a whiff of danger toward the end. The Bend = Bond formula was a general success, and I would look forward to a second Jayson Bend film. One might hope for more budget (and what that brings), a more memorable musical theme (cf. the bass guitar theme for Bond), somewhat more skin, and a gambling scene. This is a fun movie to watch, even if you are not gay yourself.

  More