Spy

Spy had potential, but the vibe is just off. It's not serious, it's not a parody, and it doesn't do a good job of being in the middle. It is consistently funny, but it could've been a lot better.

It's October, and apparently Spy is the second movie I've seen that came out in 2015. I really liked The Heat, and you can pretty much tell from the trailer which if Melissa's movies are going to be unwatchable. I figured this one would at least be passable, and that wasn't far off. There was something weird about the tone. It didn't quite work. I've seen most of the commentary, and the director keeps talking about how it's not a spoof or a parody, and they were going for serious (as much as they could with a comedy), but the general feel of the movie was really off.

I had a hard time investing in the plot. Maybe Melissa works better when she only has one person to play off, like in The Heat, than so many people. There were a *lot* of funny things about the movie, but something about it really brings my rating down. Most of the songs were jarring and just terrible choices in general, and the CGI was inexcusable. 


The side plot of the "vermin" at the CIA was totally bizarre and unnecessary. The food fight scene had a lot of potential, but the action wasn't done well. It didn't make sense to me that Susan would become a badass all of a sudden. I guess we knew she had that in her physically because of what she did in training. But she was just this meek person, and I don't think she would all of a sudden start going off on people verbally like she did. It's like she basically just turned into "Melissa McCarthy" without earning it.

Funny things were consistently happening, though, even if not all the jokes worked. I loved Jason Statham's character, and Aldo was great. I liked seeing Bobby Cannavale in something besides Boardwalk Empire, and Allison Janney is always good.

I kind of had trouble following what was going on, like why that one agent was trying to kill Rayna. And I didn't get why Melissa said "you need me" at the end of her speech to De Luca. It didn't seem like he needed her at all. I had a hard time believing Rayna would bring Melissa along anywhere. I did kind of like Rayna's whole gypsy vibe. It was great when she tried to slide the gun across the floor and it barely went anywhere. Aldo's car scene was a lot of fun, too. And of course the scene where she gets all her spy "gadgets."