Spy (2015) review

2015 is shaping up to be quite a big year for the spy film genre. Earlier this year, we had the insanely over-the-top and incredibly entertaining ‘Kingsmen: The Secret Service’. Later this year, we’re also going to get ‘Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation’, ‘The Man from UNCLE’, and the next James Bond film ‘Spectre’. But before all of that, we also have ‘Spy’, the latest film from director Paul Feig, who’s coming off of two big comedy hits in 2011’s ‘Bridesmaids’ and 2013’s ‘The Heat’. But Feig is also coming into this film with a bit of a chip on his shoulder having attracted a lot of backlash online recently for being involved in the upcoming reboot of the ‘Ghostbusters’ series that will star an all-female cast of leads. One of the leads will be Feig’s regular collaborator Melissa McCarthy, who previously starred in both ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘The Heat’ and of course stars in this film as well. Like Feig, she too is sort of coming in with a chip on her shoulder as she seemingly is currently running the risk of falling victim to ‘over-exposure’, namely after last year’s ‘Tammy’, which she co-wrote with her husband Ben Falcone (who directed the film), received a lot of negative reviews from critics. But, if anything, ‘Spy’ proves that McCarthy and Feig are at their best when they work together. Not only is ‘Spy’ a pretty darn hilarious spy comedy, thanks in no small part to its excellent cast, but it actually also manages to be a pretty well-crafted spy film as well. If anything, it shows that this upcoming ‘Ghostbusters’ film may not be a ‘disaster’ like many on the internet fear it will be.

McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a desk analyst at the CIA who, despite finding success as the partner of field agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law), is frustrated by the fact that she hasn’t been given a chance to go out into the field herself and, as a result, is still the ‘same old boring’ person that she’s always been. But that changes when, on a mission to infiltrate the home of Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), the daughter of an arms dealer that Fine had accidentally killed while searching for a mini-nuke, Fine is taken down by Rayna herself, who reveals that she knows the identities of all of the C.I.A.’s top agents. With no other agents, including Rick Ford (Jason Statham), being able to probably take part in the case due to the leak, Susan volunteers to be the field agent on the grounds that none of the targets would know who she is. So, with the approval of her boss Elaine (Alison Janney), Susan heads out, under various unassuming identities (including, among others, a ‘cat lady’), to track and report any developments of an impending sale of the mini-nuke between Boyanov and playboy Sergio De Luca (Bobby Cannavale). While she is told not to get close to any of the contacts for risk of blowing her cover, Susan ends up doing just that, pretending to be Rayna’s body-guard when the two end up crossing paths.

Something that impressed me about this film was that, as far as spy films are concerned, this one was pretty well-constructed in terms of action and the overall look and feel of the film. It even has an intro credits sequence just like the Bond films. The action sequences are shot really well and, like ‘Kingsmen’, are more violent in execution, definitely warranting an R-rating along with the usual raunchy humor you can expect from an R-rated comedy. Having now seen this film, I must say that I would love to see Paul Feig do a Bond film in the future because, based on this film alone, he handles action pretty well. I’m finding that this has kind of been a trend recently as there have been cases of directors who have been primarily known for their work in comedy proving to do a pretty solid job when it comes to directing action, with some other recent examples being the Russo brothers and James Gunn with their work on their respective Marvel Cinematic Universe films. But of course, this is also a comedy and the film does a great job of blending these two genres together, with neither overshadowing the other too much. Admittedly I think that the humor was a little bit stale early on but it definitely improved as the film went on. The film also gives us a really solid female lead in Susan Cooper, who may seem unassuming as far as spies are concerned but ends up being quite a badass when it comes to some of the stuff that she does in this film.

This was the first major film that I saw in which Melissa McCarthy starred in the lead role so ultimately I guess you can say that I’m not amongst those people who have gotten tired of her ‘schtick’ yet. And as far as this film goes, she does a solid job, excelling in both her comedic ability and her overall likability and empathetic nature, which definitely fits the character. Though it could be argued that the biggest standouts of the film are actually some of McCarthy’s co-stars, two in particular. First there’s Jason Statham, in a rare comedic turn. Statham gets plenty of the film’s best lines, which are mostly him gloating about how awesome of an agent he is, being immune to over 170 different kinds of toxic substances and for doing crazy stunts like jumping off a high-rise with only a raincoat as a parachute and driving a car off a train while on fire (“Not the car, I was on fire.”). The other big standout is Rose Byrne, who once again shows that she’s clearly found her calling in comedic roles after being one of the big standouts of last year’s ‘Neighbors’. Her comedic timing is strong and her back-and-forth camaraderie with McCarthy is excellent. But then there’s some other noteworthy members of the cast as well, like Miranda Hart in a breakout role as Susan’s friend Nancy, who also ends up getting involved with the mission as well when she too heads out in the field, and Peter Serafinowicz as Aldo, an informant who constantly tries to flirt with Susan.  

‘Spy’ was the first major film that I have seen from director Paul Feig since he broke out big time in 2011 with ‘Bridesmaids’. And although I haven’t seen either that or ‘The Heat’, I think he’s going to be a great choice to helm the new ‘Ghostbusters’ film. Because ‘Spy’ is sort of two films in one. Not only is it a pretty darn funny comedy, but it’s also a pretty darn well-made spy film as well, once again showing that comedy directors can do action sequences just as well as action directors. While most spy films nowadays tend to be more serious compared to the more crazy and over-the-top films of the past (unlike ‘Kingsmen’, which of course was a tribute to that chaotic style), ‘Spy’ is a nice little comedic alternative and, as a result, definitely one of the better comedies of the summer movie season. Of course that is thanks to the solid writing and direction from Feig and the solid ensemble cast led by Melissa McCarthy and featuring standout turns by the likes of Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, and Miranda Hart. While both McCarthy and Feig have come under fire recently by the internet for recent developments in both of their careers, including the upcoming ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot of course, ‘Spy’ shows that these two are at their best when they work together. The way I see it, this new ‘Ghostbusters’ couldn’t be in greater hands.       

      

Rating: 4/5