Amazon Prime's My Spy: Review

Deliberately embracing it's place as a light-hearted genre rip-off, Dave Bautista's comedy has a lot of heart, plenty of laughs and just enough action to keep you entertained

Chloe Coleman and Dave Bautista in 'My Spy' (CREDIT: STX/Amazon)

by Jack Linsdell

When a studio and/or filmmaker decides to make a new action movie, knowing for well they'll be existing in a well-worn genre that audiences see as "seen this before but done better", what do they do? Many choose to make a serious action romp, one that tries so hard to be original and pioneering that it ends up feeling like a tired, sub-par "B movie" that you find late night, mid week on TV. Alternatively, if you want success, you can choose to be like My Spy.

Yes, STX Entertainment and Amazon Studios' action-comedy works on the merit that it chooses to embrace, and play upon, the fact that the audience have "seen this before but better". It faces the cliches, tropes and familiar action beats head on with a comedic eye and light tone, producing an entertaining "popcorn" flick that never takes itself too seriously. This is why My Spy works so well. Unlike all those failed attempts that went for option one, this Peter Segal-directed flick turns its obstacles into assets by exploiting the audience's inherent feeling of familiarity for comedy. This makes this flick so refreshing because of its awareness of its place within the action genre, and in the theatrical marketplace in general. 

The plot is simple. JJ (Dave Bautista) is a hardened CIA officer, whose struggling with the transition from ex-soldier to government spy, much to the desperation of his boss (Ken Jeong). When he's caught spying on nine year old Sophie (Chloe Coleman) and her family as part of a "last chance" assignment, he's forced to take her under his wing, and a friendship blossoms. Yes, you've seen this before. Its whole "stranger becomes a mentor to  young kid living with single mother" plot is a well-worn story that'll remind you of The Karate Kid and About a Boy amongst others. As for the action sequences and the little bit of "conspiracy" story going on, its directly referencing (knocking off) James Bond, Mission: Impossible and Jason Bourne. We even have a very funny and well-judged plane gag in the finale that is ripped right from Indiana Jones, so much so that the movie actually tells the audience this in case they haven't got it. But, you don't watch a movie like My Spy for good and unique writing. 

In fact, the marketing cleverly hides a little twist to the basic premise which becomes a small treat right in the opening rolls of the film. The story we do get has a lot of heart, using its familiarity and "rip off" format to mine a hell of a lot of laughs from its audience, which is good. It's a very funny movie, one that constitutes the type of light entertainment you need after a heavy day. When the action comes, and it's more comedy than action I will say, it delivers (relatively speaking) on some low budget cinematic thrills, albeit with an emphasis on comedy. In fact, maybe the best comparison would be the Mila Kunis/Kate McKinnon James Bond parody The Spy Who Dumped Me, which I enjoyed in a similar "light way" as My Spy, so if you enjoyed that one, this'll hit your spot. 

Out of the three wrestlers who have become big movie stars, I'd argue Dave Bautista sits behind The Rock and John Cena in terms of acting ability. However, to his credit, he pulls off the comedy and more domesticatised drama scenes well considering he's always been better as silent action figures (think Spectre). His chemistry with Coleman works well and Ken Jeong is an added value element when he pops up. 

Overall, My Spy, which has settled on streaming via Amazon Studios across the world after a limited theatrical run, is the sort of movie you don't particularly rate. I'm certain you won't recommend it to your friends either. However, what it will do is provide you some much needed light action-based entertainment after a heavy working day, and fill a two hour period with something harmless and funny. Its refreshing to see an action movie that refuses to try hard for the audience to like it. By embracing its "rip off" status, using it as a source of comedy instead, My Spy becomes a successful example to studios and filmmakers how to keep a genre alive. It tells them that option two, self-parody, clearly gets you greater success.

3/5 STARS