SPY DVD (2015)

SYNOPSIS: Deskbound CIA analyst Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is about to become the world’s newest — and unlikeliest — secret weapon. When her partner (Jude Law) falls off the grid and another top agent (Jason Statham) is compromised, Susan volunteers to go deep undercover and bring down a deadly arms dealer. Loaded with wise-cracking humor, action and adventure, SPY is a mission impossible to resist!

MOVIE REVIEW:

Paul Feig has set out to make a funny version of Casino Royale. Not only has he managed to do so, Spy also happened to be the year’s funniest comedy and most importantly, marks star Melissa McCarthy’s best effort since her breakout role in Bridesmaids.

Feig wrote and direct this comedic action spy flick which has McCarthy playing a deskbound CIA agent, Susan Cooper. When her field partner (whom she has a crush on) Bradley Fine (Jude Law) is killed while tracking a missing nuke, Cooper volunteers to go on a seek-and-report mission in order to avenge Fine’s death. 

Obviously a parody of the classic James Bond character, Feig makes great fun of everything associated with the English superspy from the theme song to deadly fights to crazy weaponries. While Rowan Atkinson has done his fair share of spy comedy with his Johnny English series, Spy elevate it to a much higher level. Partly, the main character has been changed to the bubbly Melissa McCarthy.   

McCarthy is simply brilliant as Susan Cooper. Her comic timing is perfect and again she has no qualms making fun of her weight and average looks. Instead of making her do repetitive gags and rambling unfunny jokes like her character in Tammy and Identity Thief respectivelyFeig wasted no time making her frequent collaborator work extra hard to milk the laughter. Every minute onscreen is pure comedy gold and this is obviously the right vehicle for McCarthy to get her career back on track. 

It’s not just McCarthy who is funny in this outing. The unexpected tough guy Jason Statham turned up here as a foul-mouthed fellow agent, Rick Ford whose constant bragging always gets you in stitches. English actress Miranda Hart appears as Cooper’s colleague, Nancy another fumbling deskbound agent who has a soft spot for rapper 50 Cent. Not forgetting Allison Janney’s razor sharp appearance as Cooper’s boss. Rose Byrne, another Bridesmaids cast member turned up as the bitchy villain Rayna but liked Jude Law, Byrne is surpassed by the rest of the excellent cast.

Spy is an entertaining, often laugh-out-loud spy comedy. It has solid action sequences including a Jackie Chan inspired knife fight in a kitchen, explicit violence, a gross-out body part gag, a major twist in the end and I suspect a body bag full of unused comedy bits. Forget about Austin Powers and Johnny English, we have Susan Cooper onboard for more zany comedic adventures. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Only feature here is 6 minutes of Gag Reel.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

For an action comedy, the audio mix is surprisingly dynamic with plenty of gunfire and explosions to wake up the various channels. Visually, Spy is sharp and sleek with vibrant colors and detail. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee


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