Review of Spy (2015) by Thequietgamer — 27 Nov 2015

Surprisingly a movie that doesn't just rely on McCarthy being as vulgar as she can. I mean don't get me wrong, there is plenty of raunchy, vulgar humor with lots of profanity, but McCarthy herself seems toned down. As a result her character is much more endearing, and this very well might be the best film of her career.

To be honest the whole cast is fantastic. Everyone contributes to the jokes in their own way. Particular standouts include Miranda Hart and Jason Statham. They soar as the best of the supporting cast. It's the theme that really keeps things together though. It's a wonderful send up to spy movies. It even has a James Bond style music opening.

There are many laugh out loud moments to be found. However there are jokes that land with a thud. Especially during the film's slow opening. However once things get going it turns into a funny, if not always hilarious, combination of the spy and comedy movie genres. On particularly impressive thing about the movie is that it does feel like a real spy movie, just with more humor than the average affair. Most combinations on these two genres end up feeling a little mixed as they usually end up feeling like more comedy than spy movie. This one combines them well.

As a result we get some surprisingly well done action scenes. The plot itself is actually very tight as well. The cool thing about it is that it doesn't feel like it's making fun of McCarthy in the process. You are actually able to sympathize with her character. She feels like a real person as opposed to just some laugh sack created for the sole purpose of delivering profanity laced shock humor.

It's McCarthy's best character and arguably her best film. It's got plenty of laughs and an all around excellent cast. While not a laugh riot there is still enough funny stuff here to make it worth a watch, eve if you don't typically like McCarthy's work. Heck, it's even a solid spy film that fans of that genre could check it out and enjoy it, so long as they don't mind added humor.

I give the movie a 7.