Spy Review: Enjoyable Melissa McCarthy Spy Parody

Spy doesn’t do anything new, but its cast and comedic timing deliver an entertaining distraction. 

The cast delivered their jokes without fail. Jude Law provides the charm. Jason Statham skewers his own action movie persona with hilarious results. Rose Byrne proves that she’s an underrated comedienne. Melissa McCarthy shines as she’s finally given a character arc that pushes her to go beyond her shtick. The minor characters make their role count.

The film parodies the trademark elements of serious spy movies, with a running gag involving the poorly maintained office basement of analysts. It doesn’t throw cheap shots at its unlikely heroine’s gender or weight and focuses on jokes that are inherent to the story.

It mainly revolves around Susan Cooper, who is given a disguise based on what the CIA assumes her to be – the middle-aged forever alone cat lady. Her gadgets are concealed under embarrassing aids like stool softeners and hemorrhoid wipes.

She manages to rise above the occasion despite the embarrassment and proves herself to be a competent spy. The plot is contrived and predictable to enable her to succeed, and you won’t find impeccably choreographed gun-fu here. But the fact that the cast is more than willing to make fun of themselves makes this movie a fun watch. 

Spy is what happens when you have a cast with great comedic timing in a movie that’s self-aware enough to know what it is and does it well.