“Mat” is a way to refer to an everyday guy and so this James Bond spoof is apparent in the title. But the credit sequence next tells viewers that Mat Bond also spoofs a slightly earlier attempt by rival studio Shaw Brothers to create a Malay James Bond. Whereas the more dapper Jefri Zain had a bathtub that served as a gateway to his operations center, Mat Bond just needs a squat toilet!
Mat Bond is a loser who lives with his shrill mother (Siti Tanjung Perak, who played dozens of shrill mothers and maids in her career) but he has a secret life. The plot contains a villainous attempt at world domination, a suitcase that falls into the wrong hands, a flying umbrella, and magic pills that make one invincible. Along the way, there also are chase scenes, songs and scantily-clad babes galore. All this with the twangy guitar-laden rock soundtrack by The Pretenders (of Singapore, not the U.S.).
Malek Selamat is the villain. We know he’s the villain because a voice-over informs us, “This is a bad guy. His name is Boss Man. His enemy is Mat Bond.” If only more movies made these things as clear to us.
It’s deliberately kept vague whether the adventures of Mat Bond are real or a product of his imagination. The scene where a Native American smokes a peace pipe before offering it to others is a clue that this movie, like the director's debut Mat 3/4, is best appreciated when you’ve been smoking something. Mat Bond would in Malay be called a lawak mengarut (nonsense comedy), but what's truer is that it has a stoner logic. In fact, the word berdengung (echoing) in the movie is still used today to refer to a drug high.
The film ends with the giggle-inducing sight of the toilet shooting up into the air and also includes the karmic statement: “If we overturn someone’s car, someone will overturn ours!”
Mat Bond is madcap, genial and has some ingenious props (the director himself was the art director). Although inspired by the Get Smart American TV series, it has a charm all its own. The writer, co-director and star Mat Sentol was also ahead of his time in that he was interested in special effects. He did many of the special effects and animation himself, as well as the credit titles.
Amir Muhammad