You know when a movie shows all its best clips in a trailer? Spy managed to do the opposite. Nothing about the advertising for Spy sold me on the movie, and I had completely forgotten about it until the Golden Globes where it was nominated for Best Comedy or Musical (it lost to The Martian). After watching Spy I am shocked at how unfunny the trailers were considering I laughed non-stop through its complete running time. Even the ending credits were funny.
Melissa McCarthy plays Susan Cooper who is over-watch, a person who provides intel from headquarters, for the CIA’s top spy played by Jude Law. When her agent is killed and all the other identities of active CIA agents are compromised, Susan Cooper will have to become a spy to save the day! It turns out she is pretty darn good at it.
There have been a lot of spy movie spoofs over the years, but Spy is one of the best. The jokes are great and non-stop. I should have guessed that would be the case since it was made by the people who created The Heat and Bridesmaids, but I think the terrible trailers and McCarthy’s Tammy scared me off a bit. I will know better next time.
While McCarthy is the star of this film and delivers most of the laughs, the rest of the cast is top notch too. Law plays the perfect 007 stand in, and Statham plays his overdramatic yet terrible spy with such zeal you can’t help but chuckle every time he is on screen. Rose Byrne is an excellent evil yet funny villain. What I am saying is that Spy is a group effort that really delivers.
Paul Feig is becoming one of the great comedic directors, and while I was worried about Ghost Busters being rebooted, after Spy I know the film is in more than capable hands. It seems like every movie he directs is comedy gold. Which is a trend that I hope continues.
Spy is an excellent flick. Though a bit of warning since it comes from Feig and McCarthy the language can get a bit blue, so it is definitely not family fair, but if you are of age this movie is hilarious, and in retrospect it probably should have won the Golden Globe considering The Martian wasn’t really a comedy anyway. Now I am really excited to see the new Ghost Busters!
I thought you were joking about The Martian winning best comedy/musical. Google says your aren’t. What happened?!
I think the Hollywood Foreign Press decided that since The Martian was reasonably funny that they could call it a comedy. It isn’t, but whatever. It is a great movie though. It is just a shame since the Golden Globes are the only major award show to honor comedies. Making a good comedy is hard and that deserves to be recognized. Fudging in dramas ruins that honor.