Spy

Rating: 4.5/5

Where James Bond and the Incredibles meet to create an incredibly R rated love child, you will find Spy.

Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is the CIA's top analyst. For years, she has been the eyes and ears for Agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law). The two are a perfect team; Cooper watches, warns, and tells Fine what to do, and he carries out the orders while looking good doing it. It appears that nothing can stop them, that is until Fine finds himself in over his head in search for a bomb in the hands of Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne).

Hoping to avenge her lost partner, Susan approaches her director Elaine Crocker (Allison Janney) and tells her she wants to take over Fine's mission. Though questioning her ability, Crocker agrees as long as Cooper acts only in a observing agent capacity; no violence or action. With her new identity in hand, Cooper sets out for Paris in search of answers and closure for Fine.

Spy is a movie that is so jam packed with action, that by the end of it when you're recalling events from earlier on, it's hard to imagine that it could all fit into one movie. Even though it's only a small moment in a film that is full to the brim, the opening credits may be my favorite part. It's rare to see a movie nowadays that has its' opening credit information be put into a sequence that is separate from actual scenes of the film, and I am so glad that Spy chose to do so. From the first couple of scenes, I was intrigued but not overly interested by what I was watching, but the second that opening credit sequence began, I became fully invested and incredibly excited to see what the rest of the movie had in store.

The more I watch movies directed by Paul Feig, the more I realize his incredible talent for composing a dynamite cast. His movies can be lewd, outrageous, and bizarre, but they always feel impeccably done. Feig has the ability to put a cast of people together that you wouldn't necessarily think would work. That being said, all one has to do is watch a film of his to see without a doubt, that Feig knows exactly what he is doing. Spy is just another example of this skill. Never did I think I would see a movie with Melissa McCarthy and Jason Statham acting side by side, but I love that it exists.

The only negative thing I could really say about Spy, is that to me, it could come off as a but overly crude at times. With that being said, Melissa McCarthy's character is new to the world of being a CIA field agent, so her character is acting in the way that she thinks a hardcore agent does. It is also thanks to McCarthy that she is able to take an albeit absurd, but hilarious concept, and make it come off as believable. Her comedic timing is brilliant, with both her words and physicality, and really proves that she is a master of her craft.

Ever since I saw Spy a few days ago, I haven't been able to get it out of my head. I am not someone who gravitates towards comedies, so for one to make such a lasting impact on me, really says something about the enjoyability of the movie. Spy can push the boundaries and go overboard at times, but it is a wonderfully humorous movie nonetheless.