Spy

By: Robert Murphy

The world of being a super spy with a license to kill would definitely draw in anyone but we often forget that there are plenty of people working behind the scenes that make these spies the lethal players that they’re out in the field. This fact is exceedingly true for one Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) who joined the CIA to go on crazy adventures and get some excitement in her life only to end up in a vermin infested basement staring at a computer screen all day. She does however get to act as eyes and ears for one of the agencies top operatives Bradley Fine (Jude Law) and mostly does the brunt of the work while he spots out James Bond era one liners. This is until he gets taken out by the daughter of a notorious arms dealer Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne) who knows the identities of all the CIA’s current agents working in the field. It is then up to Cooper to take up the task of taking out this new threat before she unleashes a small portable nuke and get revenge for her torrid romantic interest and former team member.

McCarthy is proving to be a comedic force to be reckoned in the past few years with movies and TV shows alike which happily continues forward in Spy. Her character Susan Cooper is a soft spoken woman who wishes more than anything for people to notice her especially Fine who treats her like a buddy/errand girl rather than someone he actually notices. This translates over well in a number of scenarios throughout the first half of the story where McCarthy’s not the standard spy appearance takes a bit of a hit. Her fellow agents in the field get glamorous cars and gadgets disguised as pens of regular items where Cooper gets a grab bag of items disguised as items a middle aged woman would have in her bag. Items like stool softeners and hemorrhoid wipes get thrown into the mix but what’s worse is probably her not so appealing alter egos who included an ageing cat mommy and a divorced mother of three from Iowa. There is definitely no fancy tuxedo suits here as Cooper suffers the indignity of a old lady wig and sweater with a cat on it but she takes it all in stride.   

The dynamic changes up for her though near the halfway mark for the film as she must improvise her way out of ridiculous situations that were mostly caused by the rogue Rick Ford (Jason Statham) but it helps her finally gain some back bone. Cooper’s new persona is more of the badass spy character that she always dreamed of and it was secretly locked away inside her all along. This is where the action scenes start to pick up and it is wonderfully balanced with the scripts many comedic aspects. Cooper gets involved in a high speed chase but it is less impressive on a scooter and also gets into an impressively choreographed scene in a kitchen where she wields a frying pan in a knife fight. She even gets her very own eyes and ears as her friend Nancy (Miranda Hart) tries to lend a hand through her spy situations but ends up acting like a giddy house wife over the glitz and glamour which leaves Cooper completely exasperated. It is however a nice twist to the situation and really adds to the rich comedy gold present throughout Spy.

McCarthy doesn’t take all the credit, while she truly brings to life all of the jokes at her expense and the ridiculous action scenes she is also accompanied by some great supporting characters. Statham who I mentioned earlier is a completely ridiculous character this time around. He would normally make the perfect spy and has certainly proven his worth as an action hero countless times before but now his character has more bark than bite. His character doesn’t think that Cooper is up to the task and will screw everything up but she ends up saving him on countless occasions as he makes a mess of every situation he is put in. We then have Aldo (Peter Serafinowicz) who is a fellow agent that is stationed in Europe to help Cooper out in her mission but ends up being a ridiculous womanizer. He is constantly going on about how attractive Cooper is, even in her old lady and divorced mother disguises. The two have hilarious go betweens including a scene where he attempts to free her from her hands from rope by biting at them and ending up in a bizarre position with Cooper.

Things do start to become a grind though with all the stunts and exploits for the film. There are countless action throwbacks at nods to the audience that make a point to show that this is a spy film. Events like a private plane shoot out that leads to the plane spiraling out of control or a big club scene that features 50 Cent which aren't bad moments for the story but after awhile it bogs things down and there are plenty of scenes like it. I appreciated all of the moments that make Spy feel like the classic spy movies that I’ve scene over the years but one or two moments like that will do the trick not four or five.

Melissa McCarthy takes everything that is thrown at her and keeps on going in Spy. Her character Cooper plays a shy pencil pusher one minute and then completely transforms into a tough CIA operative with a mouth the next. McCarthy also is accompanied by some incredible supporting actors and actresses that add to this spy comedy experience. In the end, espionage has never looked quite so ridiculous but that’s certainly a good thing.

Good:

- Melissa McCarthy continues her comedic hot streak

- A great supporting cast

- Fast paced action mixed perfectly with quick witted comedy

Bad:

- A bit bogged down with the amount of spy references

Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10