Rating of
3/4
McCarthy Scores Again
Unknown - wrote on 06/08/15
'Spy' is a fun action/spy comedy with consistent laughs. McCarthy once again shows her best comedic efforts under the direction of Feig ('Bridesmaids', 'The Heat'). I think the pair should work together exclusively due to their hilarious track record thus far. In this latest, they send up the spy genre in a semi-spoof/serviceable genre piece kind of way. This type of comedy could've easily taken the lame route and had her character be an incapable prat-faller thrown into an unknown situation where we are supposed to laugh at her misfortune. Quite the opposite happens. McCarthy is made out to be a capable asset who gets sidelined due to the negative reinforcement around her. But great things happen when she is given the chance to shine. She breaks out of her shell and becomes a force to be reckoned with. It's a real empowering move that pays off to satisfaction in the story. The actual spy plot is inconsequential, only used to set up some effective gags that callback to classic tropes. The action is well shot and executed. A few gory encounters are played for laughs. Everyone has their share of good one-liners, especially Statham. He had me giggling the most with his extremely over confident, but not all too competent, agent character that is a parody of his usual over-the-top action hero persona. The only weakling was the 'friend' character to McCarthy. An awkwardly funny presence, but barely half of her lines were worth a chuckle. The character also felt a little unnecessary to the plot. The latter half relied a bit too much on the insult humor. I grew a little tired of it and wished for another scene or two of spy parody near the end. But honestly, those are only a handful of misses amongst a heavily joke filled script. I laughed out loud a lot and that's what matters.
