'Spy' review by Jake Boyle
While they might not exactly be Scorsese and De Niro, Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy are cementing themselves as a formidable partnership. Or so I'm told. I've never seen either of their previous two movies and my experience with McCarthy comes only from This Is 40 and The Hangover III, both resolutely miserable attempts at comedy. Spy is the first film in years I've wanted to see purely through the strength of its trailer, even when combined with the bland name and seemingly tiresome premise.
The first half of the movie is a little sketchy, and the repeated jokes about how unglamorous McCarthy looks are only really made tolerable by her likeability as a leading lady. Midway through, the character suddenly gets much more violent and foul-mouthed, and then the real fun begins. Watching McCarthy lacerate henchmen with her fists and her acidic tongue (Metaphorically. Not like in X-Men) is a real treat to behold, especially because she dives into the more explicit elements with committed energy and aplomb. The other great joy of this film is a gloriously self-parodic turn from Jason Statham, exaggerating and belittling his entire image with a deadpan excellence unmatched by most comedians. However, it's McCarthy and Jude Law who acquit themselves as actual action stars here, and the film's fight scenes are well-choreographed and on a couple of occasions even pleasingly visceral. Law's performance is perfectly adequate but never anything to get excited about, and there are too many predictable twists surrounding his character to view him as anything that's really interesting. Spy as a whole never really attempts to escape a standard formula beyond its elements of ironic pastiche, and even some of those feel quite familiar. Sometimes it's not even parody, such as the distinctly Bond-esque, straight-faced opening credits, and brownie points are to be awarded for having the confidence to hold itself in a more serious, unironic contention for the odd moment or two.
It is still an unabashed comedy though, and every small moment of sentiment is really just a set-up for the ensuing punchline, the majority of which stick well enough. Allison Janney's delivery is just as superlative as has come to be expected of her by now, and Miranda Hart manages to hold her own in a room full of A-Listers. Peter Serafinowicz pulls a minor miracle by making his turn as a smarmy Don Juan-abe into something even vaguely bearable, let alone funny once or twice, and 50 Cent's appearance as himself provides a few strong moments of humour, but quite easily could have been much more amusing that it turned out being. A few of the jokes are pretty dumb but the puerility is outweighed by the dialogue and the parodying of quintessential spy movie tropes. Spare a thought, however, for Morena Baccarin, talented and on the rise yet relegated here to about seven lines and a pretty much pointless character. The occasional joke doesn't land and leads to some awkward instances, because there's not much to this film beyond the comedy to keep you interested, but some of the routines work so damn well (especially Statham's scenes) that they compensate plentifully for the weaker moments.
Spy gets its laughs confidently and frequently, and not only is Statham good in his comic turn but it's perhaps the greatest role of his entire career. McCarthy and Feig carry the proceedings though, and they do a solid job of it, crafting a movie that's funny, knowing when to be straight-faced and when to be provocative. It's a tad formulaic but not as much as the average action-comedy, and slightly dumb some of the time, but infrequently enough (and with enough good taste) that you never feel that creeping sense of shame for enjoying it. It's maybe not worth going out of your way to watch but Spy remains nonetheless a satisfactory and enjoyable experience.
The first half of the movie is a little sketchy, and the repeated jokes about how unglamorous McCarthy looks are only really made tolerable by her likeability as a leading lady. Midway through, the character suddenly gets much more violent and foul-mouthed, and then the real fun begins. Watching McCarthy lacerate henchmen with her fists and her acidic tongue (Metaphorically. Not like in X-Men) is a real treat to behold, especially because she dives into the more explicit elements with committed energy and aplomb. The other great joy of this film is a gloriously self-parodic turn from Jason Statham, exaggerating and belittling his entire image with a deadpan excellence unmatched by most comedians. However, it's McCarthy and Jude Law who acquit themselves as actual action stars here, and the film's fight scenes are well-choreographed and on a couple of occasions even pleasingly visceral. Law's performance is perfectly adequate but never anything to get excited about, and there are too many predictable twists surrounding his character to view him as anything that's really interesting. Spy as a whole never really attempts to escape a standard formula beyond its elements of ironic pastiche, and even some of those feel quite familiar. Sometimes it's not even parody, such as the distinctly Bond-esque, straight-faced opening credits, and brownie points are to be awarded for having the confidence to hold itself in a more serious, unironic contention for the odd moment or two.
It is still an unabashed comedy though, and every small moment of sentiment is really just a set-up for the ensuing punchline, the majority of which stick well enough. Allison Janney's delivery is just as superlative as has come to be expected of her by now, and Miranda Hart manages to hold her own in a room full of A-Listers. Peter Serafinowicz pulls a minor miracle by making his turn as a smarmy Don Juan-abe into something even vaguely bearable, let alone funny once or twice, and 50 Cent's appearance as himself provides a few strong moments of humour, but quite easily could have been much more amusing that it turned out being. A few of the jokes are pretty dumb but the puerility is outweighed by the dialogue and the parodying of quintessential spy movie tropes. Spare a thought, however, for Morena Baccarin, talented and on the rise yet relegated here to about seven lines and a pretty much pointless character. The occasional joke doesn't land and leads to some awkward instances, because there's not much to this film beyond the comedy to keep you interested, but some of the routines work so damn well (especially Statham's scenes) that they compensate plentifully for the weaker moments.
Spy gets its laughs confidently and frequently, and not only is Statham good in his comic turn but it's perhaps the greatest role of his entire career. McCarthy and Feig carry the proceedings though, and they do a solid job of it, crafting a movie that's funny, knowing when to be straight-faced and when to be provocative. It's a tad formulaic but not as much as the average action-comedy, and slightly dumb some of the time, but infrequently enough (and with enough good taste) that you never feel that creeping sense of shame for enjoying it. It's maybe not worth going out of your way to watch but Spy remains nonetheless a satisfactory and enjoyable experience.
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