Numbers obtained from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes on May 3, 2015.
My rating IMDb Rotten Tomatoes
Critics Audience Critics Audience
8.5/10 84/100 7.3/10 100% Not available yet
With the huge success of James Bond movies for over 50 years, there have been countless parodies, in both television and films, of the British secret agent and of the many characters and elements in his movies (the most obvious one being Austin Powers). “Spy” (to be released in June) joins this list, but with an important difference: “James Bond” is now a woman.
Melissa McCarthy, who’s been starring a great number of comedies since her huge success in “Bridesmaids” (2011), plays Susan Cooper, a desk-bound CIA analyst who helps field agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law) in his missions. Things change drastically, however, when one mission fail and the identities of CIA’s most important agents are revealed. The Agency, then, needs an unknown agent to go after a deadly arm dealer and Susan volunteers for the task. Needless to say that her mission if filled with incredibly funny situations thanks to (i) great lines, (ii) her god timing for comedy and (iii) the supporting cast (especially Jason Statham, Rose Byrne and Miranda Hart).
She goes to the field assuming she’ll be given an interesting new identity for the undercover mission, glamorous gadgets and cars and fancy clothes. However, that couldn’t be further from what they give her, since the movie cleverly explores the stereotype a woman with McCarthy’s physical appearance faces. She’s either an unmarried woman with a lot of cats, or a woman with 4 children without a father, etc.
The James Bond elements are all there, starting with the movie’s poster, a clear reference to “Goldfinger” (1964). The opening credits design and song and the subplot of having the secret identities stolen also resemble “Skyfall” (2012), the agents travel to great locations, and there is even the agent responsible for giving Susan her not-so-glamorous gadgets, the counterpart of “Q” in James Bond.
Filled with action and “laugh-out-loud” moments (as I could experience in the movie theater where I watched it, with an audience laughing all the time), “Spy” was a very pleasant surprise and it’s a great choice for a summer movie.
