Although Italy unquestionably dominated the James Bond wannabe subgenre, Mexico got into bed with the spy-fi craze, too. None other than Mexploitation royalty René Cardona Jr. (1978’s Cyclone) helmed S.O.S. Operation Bikini (aka S.O.S. Conspiración Bikini in its home country).

It’s the first and last screen adventure of Agent 00100 Alex Dinamo (Julio Alemán, Vacation of Terror), a government good guy aiding his lovely colleague (Sonia Furió, Operación Tiburón) as she infiltrates the enemy S.O.S. crime syndicate as an undercover fashion model. It all has something to do with the CIA shipping weapons to Latin America, but the story isn’t the point, nor it is the easiest to follow, despite not plotted in knots. As poorly written as the film is, it succeeds as an entertaining time capsule, capturing Ecuador in that era teetering between technology and tradition.

Nearly all of Operation Bikini unwraps in a swank, mid-century modern paradise of a hotel. Pool, casino, showroom — every on-site spot pops with a peacock’s plume of pastels. In an early shootout aboard a tugboat, you’ll be distracted by bananas in the ripest green ever photographed.

Zippy and bright (speaking visually, not intellectually), Cardona’s carnival of guns, gadgets, girls and güeyes vacillates between spy-movie spoofery and being the real deal, which may frustrate viewers looking for one or the other, not both. Chases abound: cars, boats, planes, copters and, yes, skirts. —Rod Lott