Quickie Review:
One of the finest spies of CIA is killed in the line of duty. Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) a CIA analyst must now abandon her desk job and go into the field. This unassuming spy's mission: to infiltrate an arms dealing ring to prevent a global disaster. Spy is a surprisingly good action comedy. The movie does not just rely on the only comedian in the movie and is more of an ensemble effort. Spy spoofs the spy genre without becoming a joke itself, but this also means that the originality in this movie is severely lacking. Nevertheless, Spy is an entertaining film with consistent stream of laughs. As a bonus, Jason Statham was incredible in his comedic role.
Full Review:
I really was not looking forward to Spy. Melissa McCarthy was hilarious in Bridesmaids, but every movie after that was McCarthy becoming more and more extreme version of that character. Tammy was the peak of annoying comedy, it was getting tiring. However, in Spy McCarthy holds back on the zany weirdness and it works.
When looking at the premise, it's easy to think "oh this movie is just going to be a collection of scenes where McCarthy's character fumbles into success." Quite the contrary, she is actually competent at her job. Yea sure for the physical action she is limited, but she holds her own even against intimidating foes. What I'm trying to say is that she is not like Austin Powers who depends on dumb luck to beat the bad guy. She is constantly underestimated, so when she exudes confidence that's when McCarthy is at her best because so many times she would retort with actions or insults that were such good burns that you can't help it but laugh. Rest of the cast were also comedically on point. Rose Byrne continues to show she fits well in comedies even after Bridesmaids and Neighbors. I want to see her more in these types of roles (I'm not just saying that because I have a celebrity crush on her). The undeniable show stealer was Jason Statham. His numerous, endless monologues about how great he is were hilarious! It's great to see him poke fun at his own image in action movies. It's completely unexpected (the trailer only gave a snippet) but every time Statham started one of his stories, everyone in the cinema started to laugh.
There are some tired out jokes in the movie though. Like I mentioned, McCarthy's character is constantly put down for her weight or appearance. So the jokes about her weight and lack of experience start to get a little old. Luckily like I mentioned she does quip back in a funny way each time, but lessening the fat jokes would've been better. Spy, is a spoof of all spy movies ever made. With that comes all the overused plot points and twists that won't surprise you at all. On spy parody scale of Austin Powers to Kingsman, Spy lies somewhere in between. So a lot of the parody is done with very safe jokes, in that sense Spy doesn't offer anything new or fresh. As a result the movie does come off very generic.
That being said, Spy is a comedy after all. So all it needed to do was to get us to laugh, and it did achieve its goal. You don't need to be concerned of McCarthy wackiness from Tammy. This was an ensemble effort where the movie depended on everyone in the cast to deliver the jokes. Spy is a surprisingly entertaining film that will hit you on the funny bone.
One of the finest spies of CIA is killed in the line of duty. Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) a CIA analyst must now abandon her desk job and go into the field. This unassuming spy's mission: to infiltrate an arms dealing ring to prevent a global disaster. Spy is a surprisingly good action comedy. The movie does not just rely on the only comedian in the movie and is more of an ensemble effort. Spy spoofs the spy genre without becoming a joke itself, but this also means that the originality in this movie is severely lacking. Nevertheless, Spy is an entertaining film with consistent stream of laughs. As a bonus, Jason Statham was incredible in his comedic role.
Full Review:
I really was not looking forward to Spy. Melissa McCarthy was hilarious in Bridesmaids, but every movie after that was McCarthy becoming more and more extreme version of that character. Tammy was the peak of annoying comedy, it was getting tiring. However, in Spy McCarthy holds back on the zany weirdness and it works.
When looking at the premise, it's easy to think "oh this movie is just going to be a collection of scenes where McCarthy's character fumbles into success." Quite the contrary, she is actually competent at her job. Yea sure for the physical action she is limited, but she holds her own even against intimidating foes. What I'm trying to say is that she is not like Austin Powers who depends on dumb luck to beat the bad guy. She is constantly underestimated, so when she exudes confidence that's when McCarthy is at her best because so many times she would retort with actions or insults that were such good burns that you can't help it but laugh. Rest of the cast were also comedically on point. Rose Byrne continues to show she fits well in comedies even after Bridesmaids and Neighbors. I want to see her more in these types of roles (I'm not just saying that because I have a celebrity crush on her). The undeniable show stealer was Jason Statham. His numerous, endless monologues about how great he is were hilarious! It's great to see him poke fun at his own image in action movies. It's completely unexpected (the trailer only gave a snippet) but every time Statham started one of his stories, everyone in the cinema started to laugh.
There are some tired out jokes in the movie though. Like I mentioned, McCarthy's character is constantly put down for her weight or appearance. So the jokes about her weight and lack of experience start to get a little old. Luckily like I mentioned she does quip back in a funny way each time, but lessening the fat jokes would've been better. Spy, is a spoof of all spy movies ever made. With that comes all the overused plot points and twists that won't surprise you at all. On spy parody scale of Austin Powers to Kingsman, Spy lies somewhere in between. So a lot of the parody is done with very safe jokes, in that sense Spy doesn't offer anything new or fresh. As a result the movie does come off very generic.
That being said, Spy is a comedy after all. So all it needed to do was to get us to laugh, and it did achieve its goal. You don't need to be concerned of McCarthy wackiness from Tammy. This was an ensemble effort where the movie depended on everyone in the cast to deliver the jokes. Spy is a surprisingly entertaining film that will hit you on the funny bone.