Spy



SPY



Director : Paul Feig

Year : 2015

Genre : Comedy

Rating : ****

With an all star cast including Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Miranda Hart, Jude Law and Rose Byrne, 'Spy' is an often hilarious and extremely sweary action comedy from 'Bridesmaids' and 'The Heat' director Paul Feig. Setting itself up as a spoof of the Bond pictures of the late 90's and early 2000's, 'Spy' tells the story of the downtrodden desk-bound CIA operative Susan (McCarthy) who is drawn into the world of agency when her partner (Jude Law) is killed by a villainous terrorist leader (Rose Bryne). With the help of a similarly inexperienced assistant (Miranda Hart) and a brilliant but boastful rogue spy (Jason Statham), Susan dons a number of increasingly embarrassing disguises and aliases to take down the person who killed her beloved partner.

As always, regular collaborators Feig and McCarthy gladly debase themselves for a great number of hard earned laughs and 'Spy' is continually filled with both hilarious slapstick and expletive filled gags - mostly at the expense of McCarthy herself who once again proves to be one of the funniest women working in cinema today. Her impeccable comic timing and razor-edged tongue once again serve as the greatest weapons in her comedic arsenal and there is not one scene in the film which doesn't contain at least a chuckle - more than what most comedies these days can profess to do.



The rest of the cast are very funny too; most notably Jason Statham who is downright genius as the simultaneously suave but stupidly simple rogue agent who claims to be immune to over 170 types of poison and boasts that his right arm had been ripped off and re-attached with his left. Then again, he also believes that the CIA has a 'Face/Off' machine so he may not be the most trustworthy person on the planet. Comedy may be new territory for the usually action-orientated Statham but his self-aware mocking provides 'Spy' with a good deal of true laughs. Even the usually annoying Miranda Hart is watchable and pretty entertaining as the goonish assistant to McCarthy while Rose Byrne is deliciously evil as the ruthless Hungarian born arms dealer Boyanof.

But while the cast are great, the actual espionage aspect of the picture also works too - mostly due to the reverence and affection to the genre that Feig clearly demonstrates in both the script and the direction. Many of the deaths are surprisingly gruesome and the numerous action scenes are both intense and thrilling. The movie has a unexpectedly vicious edge to it and I for one appreciated both its R rated content and it's true love for the genre. Many of the set pieces work well, the many action scenes are directed by Feig with panache and vigour and all of the main  performances are worthy of note. All in all, 'Spy' is a terrifically fun time at the movies and, despite my better judgement, I hope to see a sequel in the works very soon - if not just for another hilarious turn from Jason Statham.