Lionsgate gave buddy action comedy fans a nice late-summer surprise last August with the Ryan Reynolds/Samuel L.Jackson-led romp The Hitman's Bodyguard. The mid-major studio is keeping this tradition alive with The Spy Who Dumped Me-an imminently likable vehicle that serves as a lively showcase for the talent of its two leads.
I'm sure there are some people out there that expected this to be a sanitized take on the spy genre for reasons that you can probably gather simply from taking a quick glance at the top of the cast list. I can say without any hesitation that The Spy Who Dumped Me isn't even a remotely watered-down product. Co-writer/director Susanna Fogel and her writing partner David Iserson embraced every creative liberty the R-rating has to offer by filling this film with quality action scenes that don't skimp on tension, scope or over-the-top brutal deaths. This is the type of confident, workman-like effort that newcomers to the action world don't often deliver and as far as I'm concerned, should go down as a work that future genre newcomers will take notes or draw inspiration from.
No amount of bloody shootouts, semi-convoluted terrorist plots and traditional spy movie betrayals can overshadow the fact this is the Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon show from start to finish. Kunis is a grounded, charismatic straightwoman while McKinnon once again proves that she's an unstoppable comedic tornado by harvesting laughs out of just about any situation that emerges. This strong yin-and-yang rapport makes their exchanges as this fish-out-of-water story rapidly escalates in stakes feel natural,which in turn helps effortlessly establish the breezy tone every buddy movie needs to thrive. It's definitely a bit too long and the effectiveness of the jokes decrease pretty significantly once the espionage plot gets more involved in the final third of the movie, but there's still enough laugh-out-loud moments, impressive action scenes and goofy energy to make The Spy Who Dumped Me a worthy entry into the buddy actioncom genre.
I'm sure there are some people out there that expected this to be a sanitized take on the spy genre for reasons that you can probably gather simply from taking a quick glance at the top of the cast list. I can say without any hesitation that The Spy Who Dumped Me isn't even a remotely watered-down product. Co-writer/director Susanna Fogel and her writing partner David Iserson embraced every creative liberty the R-rating has to offer by filling this film with quality action scenes that don't skimp on tension, scope or over-the-top brutal deaths. This is the type of confident, workman-like effort that newcomers to the action world don't often deliver and as far as I'm concerned, should go down as a work that future genre newcomers will take notes or draw inspiration from.
No amount of bloody shootouts, semi-convoluted terrorist plots and traditional spy movie betrayals can overshadow the fact this is the Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon show from start to finish. Kunis is a grounded, charismatic straightwoman while McKinnon once again proves that she's an unstoppable comedic tornado by harvesting laughs out of just about any situation that emerges. This strong yin-and-yang rapport makes their exchanges as this fish-out-of-water story rapidly escalates in stakes feel natural,which in turn helps effortlessly establish the breezy tone every buddy movie needs to thrive. It's definitely a bit too long and the effectiveness of the jokes decrease pretty significantly once the espionage plot gets more involved in the final third of the movie, but there's still enough laugh-out-loud moments, impressive action scenes and goofy energy to make The Spy Who Dumped Me a worthy entry into the buddy actioncom genre.
Grade: B
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