The Spy Who Came in From The Cold: Review of Spy

Spy

Director: Paul Feig

By Alex Watson

Thanks to the charms of the reliable Melissa McCarthy, Spy is a funny and likeable parody. Director Paul Feig doesn't deliver anything groundbreaking in terms of formula. But in terms of sheer belly laughs and wit, it succeeds admirably. Its leading character Susan though, is one that audiences are drawn to and will certainly be back for more installments.

Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is a desk bound CIA agent who assists super spy Bradley Fine (Jude Law). But when Fine goes MIA, Susan finds herself pushed into a field agent role. She is tasked with tracking villians Rayna Boyanov (Rose Bryne) and Sergio De Luca (Bobby Cannavale). Together the pair know the location of a devastating nuclear bomb. But is Susan really ready for the challenge ahead?

Rather than just letting Susan being the bumbling overweight and clumsy hero, Paul Feig turns things on their head makes her an butt-kicking action star. At first she is the underwhelming office lady whom everyone assumed to be a crazy cat lady off screen. Alongside her equally downbeat friend Nancy (Miranda Hart), she is kept firmly at her desk and laments her crush on Bradley not being returned. Though she whispers helpful instructions through his ear piece and keeps his life safe, she knows this maybe as good as life gets.

The second act of Spy thankfully turns over a new leaf and allows Susan to run wild with flying groin kicks, punches and any number of sassy insults. In rich villain society, she really is the fish out of water and causes ripples of panic whenever she enters a room. But no matter what she does or any errors thrown, she only succeeds in becoming likeable throughout. Same cannot be said for the villains of the piece. Rayna while cold and glamorous is a rather cookie cutter villain, whose is more like a playground bully than an icy international criminal.

Thankfully this movie has enough gas in the tank to see it through the whole run. No matter where the action takes us, Rome, Bulgaria or even the US, the laughs keep on coming. Also the action sequences are equal to even some more established action franchises. One scene she Susan in a kitchen battle with both a knife and frying pan. Full marks for creativity there, but seeing her hang from a helicopter is a finale that works on all levels. If only for the hilarious 50 Cent cameo that comes alongside it.

Melissa McCarthy is one making a great career out of these type of films. As Susan she brings us a character that has a superbly sharp tongue along with a set of skills that would rival Jason Bourne. Expect a return for this character very soon! The supporting cast is also top notch, with Jude Law leading the way as self-serving agent Bradley. Very much a satire of the Bond franchise, Law demonstrates his comedic ability to poke fun at himself. But it is Jason Statham who steals the show with an hilarious turn as Luke Ford. With the subtly of a brick and loudly bragging about his exploits, Statham has a ball and I can only hope he earns a spin-off from this.

Spy is a movie that is impossible to dislike and there will most likely be any number of sequels in future. Melissa McCarthy is proving to be one actress that can stay fun no matter the material and I look forward to the exploits of Susan in years to come.

Expendables 3: An Action Hero Too Far

Firstly a disclaimer; I love a good dumb film. I like switching my brain off for two hours and being entertained by explosions and one-liners. I am Michael Bay's target audience.

The Third instalment in the Expendables trilogy was released in the UK last week, and on the internet ages ago. Whoops. Despite being the school holidays and the movie having a 12A, I was at least 25% of the whole theatre audience.

The movie opens with Stallone and friends assaulting a prison train to rescue former team member Wesley Snipes because subtlety isn't the point of this movie. If you've seen the trailer, you'll know that the train then crashes into a prison and explodes. Dumb fun.

If this movie is anything to go by, Snipes has recently watched a ton of free-running videos as his character Doc leaps about like Super Mario on springs. There's a lot of this.

It's then straight into another action sequence and Terry Crews turns up to add some humour. Sadly this is the only real sequence Crews had as shooting commitments clashed with Brooklyn Nine Nine. This harbour fight sequence is fun, as it also introduces the movie's baddie, Mel Gibson.

To make a long story short (and it's the longest of the trilogy), Gibson's character, the improbably named Stonebanks injures one of the team and escapes, so Stallone goes off to take revenge. However, realising that his team of veteran soldiers is getting on a bit, he leaves them at home and recruits a new, young team, probably the main characters of the next movie. This is where Kelsey Grammer comes in as a man with a lot of phone numbers. Montage-tastic.

While Statham, Snipes, Lundgren and Couture stay at home and watch TV, Stallone and the Junior Expendables nip of to Bucharest to try and nab Gibson. Things go wrong, the kids are kidnapped and it's up to Stallone and the old guard to rescue them.

Cue explosions, more explosions, helicopter chases and a final set piece that pitches the new and old Expendables facing off against an army from a made up country. There's also the obligatory fight at the end between Stallone and Gibson.

Good points;

* Although the score is largely recycled from the last two movies, Brian Tyler's punchy strings still carry the action nicely and you'll leave the theatre humming the main motif.
* The rapport between the characters is fun, you'll probably hate the youngsters but the banter between the elder members of the group is well written.
* Harrison Ford's last minute inclusion works well.
* The location scout deserves a raise. A lot of the location work was beautiful.

Bad points;

* Jet Li! I'm a huge Jet Li fan but despite top-ish billing, he has less than five minutes of screen time and he does no martial arts at all.
* The cast was too big. Not enough time to develop the youngsters which just made them easy to dislike.

Should you watch this film? Yes, as dumb action films go, it's fun but it's not as good as its predecessors. It's also not as good as Transformers Age of Extinction which in turn is nowhere near as good as Guardians of the Galaxy. All of which are still in theatres. I watched it on a Tuesday because tickets are only £5 at Odeon. I'd be less happy if I'd paid full price.