My Spy movie review by Movie Review Mom

MOVIE TITLE:  MY SPY

RATING:  PG-13

LENGTH:    1 hour 39 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE:   B+

IN A NUTSHELL:

A massive, burly spy and a precocious, adorable 4th grader.  Sounds like a comedic match we have seen many times before (movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger or Dwayne Johnson), yet the funny formula still works.  At least, it did for me, my husband, and the majority of the audience who watched a press screening of this spy comedy last night.  The movie isn’t exactly “Fifty shades of amazing” as one of the character says in the film, but it was still super entertaining and made my tired husband laugh MANY times.  That’s a huge compliment and endorsement of this spy comedy.  We both thought it was cute and enjoyable, despite the many negative reviews we’ve seen online.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

• A surprising amount of profanity for a family-friendly flick.  Some crude language.
• Lots of violence with a high dead body count.  You see a severed head fly by in slow motion, a man get a knife thrown into his leg, tons of people get shot or blown up, hand-to-hand combat, and a variety of weapons.
• Two gay men who live together play a large role as neighbors to Sophie.  Sophie assumes Bobbi is a lesbian, which is never confirmed, nor denied.
• Tons of pop culture references to things young kids may not know anything about like “Queer Eye” Brawny Towels, Waze, and lots of older movies.  The movie really seems more tailored to older viewers than as a kids’ movie.

THEMES:

• Friendship, loneliness
• Bullies
• Broken people, healing
• Teamwork

THINGS I LIKED:

• Dave Bautista was never on my radar until I first saw him in Guardians of the Galaxy (Theatrical).  I LOVE those movies.  I’m such a fan of his now and want him to do well in movies like his professional wrestler mentor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.  Dave Bautista seems up for anything and is willing to take some heavy hits and look goofy.  Good for him.  There is only one obvious body-double moment in the movie when he’s ice skating; otherwise, that seems to really be him getting knocked all over the place.
• Chloe Coleman is fantastic. I’ve never watched Big Little Lies Season 1 (Digital HD + BD) [Blu-ray]  She’s occasionally annoying in the movie, but mostly totally adorable.
• Kristen Schaal almost always plays a quirky, likable character. She’s definitely a highlight in this movie with some of the funniest lines in the cast.
• Ken Jeong is always a crowd pleaser, although he usually plays super nasty, crass characters in comedies.  I’m happy to announce that he was perfectly clean, although it surprised me that he was used more as a straight man, rather than the funny man that he always is.  I’ve been watching him lately on THE MASKED SINGER and he seems like he’d be a fun guy to hang with who genuinely loves to laugh at anything, including himself. Check out: Why is ‘The Masked Singer’ so addictive? We asked a psychology professor and comedian Ken Jeong.
• Because I love movies so much, I always get a kick out of movies that reference or quote other movies.  In this funny flick, there were tons of shout-outs to other films, such as Iron Man 2, Notting Hill, E.T.,The Extra-Terrestrial, Mission: Impossible, Shrek, and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
• I know action sequences in slow motion are super cliche, but I love them anyway.  The ones in this movie always got a laugh from the audience.
• The music choices supported the comedy and were even the focus of some comedic moments.
• I’m completely obsessed with Alexa, so I love that Dave Bautista had one too.
• Tons of physical gags that made me laugh out loud like the blinking lesson or when Bobbi started doing bicep curls with her tiny water bottle after watching JJ curl massive water tanks.
• I always love a good training sequence.
• A cute twist.  I love twists and surprises.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

• Some painfully corny dialogue.
• Some people have been complaining that the film doesn’t know what it wants to be: action, comedy, coming-of-age, rom-com, or spy movie.  It really was all of those things.  I think it has to do with expectations.  I expected a comedy with a spy setting, so that’s what I saw.
• You watch Bobbi throw up. Ick.
• Did they spray paint the top of Dave Bautista’s head or was that his actual hair?  It was super distracting and seemed to be the wrong color.
• Super predictable.
• Some of the acting by side characters is not very good, particularly the other kids.  Hey, they’re kids.
• All of the explosions with fire had really fake-looking CGI.
• For a spy movie, there were no super cool, new gadgets.  Everything was very old-school.
• The rolling credits at the end of the movie just showed clips from the movie, nothing new.  I love it when comedies include after-credit scenes to extend the laughter that everyone came to the movie to enjoy.
• There are some plot holes, but this movie is not trying to be a serious spy movie, so don’t worry about them.

FUNNY LINES:

•  “I could definitely take her.”  – Bobbi   (Kristen Schaal) after noticing one of the targets was a 4th grader.
• “I think I broke something…deep inside.” – JJ   (Dave Bautista)
• “He got ‘Queer-Eyed’ by Carlos and Todd.” – Sophie   (Chloe Coleman)
• “This looks like the wedding at the end of Shrek.” –  Bobbi   (Kristen Schaal)
•  “I’m just a guy, standing in front of another guy, asking him not to kill me.”  – JJ   (Dave Bautista)

INTERESTING LINES:

• “Everyone’s experiences are valuable.” –  Pam Besser   (Laura Cilevitz)
• “Parenting: it’s not just about what you say but being there.” – Kate  (Parisa Fitz-Henley)
• “Getting personal isn’t a weakness.” – Bobbi    (Kristen Schaal)

OTHER MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

 THE TOOTH FAIRY
      

WATCH THE Movie Review Mom YOUTUBE REVIEW WITH THIS LINK:

@TrinaBoice