I Spy

Another Hollywood offering based on the time honoured principle of remaking classic TV shows to guarantee financial returns. However, unlike some that still managed to flop, I Spy for the most part delivers.

The story is typical Bond-style spy action: Someone has stolen a top secret invisible plane from the American government and is selling it on the black market, and it's up to our heroes to get it back. The story is secondary to the comedy in this movie, mostly between its two stars - Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson. Murphy reprises his wise-cracking sidekick role, last seen in Shrek. Instead of a talking donkey though, this time he is a world-champion boxer. If you can with-hold your disbelief of this concept for ninety minutes his performance is fairly enjoyable. At times there is a glimpse of great chemistry between his egotistical celebrity and Wilson's downtrodden spy in love.

Unfortunately this is a movie that suffers from an identity crisis: Is this a spy thriller with jokes, or is it an all out spoof of the genre? Because of this the movie falls somewhat uncomfortably between the two, with long periods with no jokes at all followed by hilarious set-pieces.

Having said all this, I Spy is still fairly entertaining, and if you're just looking for a film to fill a friday evening you could do a lot worse than to choose this one.

When a top secret camouflaged plane is stolen and hidden, secret agency BNS needs to get an agent into Hungary to uncover and prevent the sale of the weapon. Agent Alex Scott is selected to go undercover with civilian boxer Kelly Robinson and use his upcoming fight to gain access. However Kelly is less co-operative than first hoped and the mission risks being compromised. Can they stay out of trouble long enough to stop the sale?

Take a little bit of Shanghai Noon, a little bit of Rush Hour, remove the oriental spice from the stew et viola! – you've got I Spy! By mixing the essence of Jackie Chan's sidekicks from both these films and putting the resultant stew into a comedy spy movie you have this enjoyable if unspectacular film. Wilson does his usual stuff but is still effortlessly funny, Murphy does his best Chris Tucker impression and does a good job playing a little dumb and is funny as well.

The plot sees them doing, well, it doesn't really matter what they're doing, just that Wilson is Wilson and Murphy is playing up to good effect! The plot just about provides enough material to keep the film going, but the odd moment where the comedy banter quietens down, the weaknesses of the plot are immediately laid bare. This is not to say it isn't good enough for this type of film, but just that at times it is all very slight and a bit thin. The comedy is more based on banter than anything else, so if you like the two aforementioned Chan movies then this should be enjoyable as the humour is of the same vein.

The support cast are all pretty average. Janssen does an OK job looking pretty but Malcolm McDowell just shows his face to no great effect. The funniest cameo is Gary Cole who plays an Irish spy playing a Cuban – he is just so unexpected in his actions that I had to be amused (of course he is helped by Wilson'' reactions to his character).

Overall this was kinda overlooked at the UK box office and I think it was because it was very slight and flimsy. However for gentle laughs based on good banter rather than set up jokes, this is a surprisingly fun comedy despite not sticking in your mind for longer than 15 minutes after you watch it.

Alex Scott (Owen Wilson) is a second tier American spy. He is tasked to retrieve the Switchblade, a prototype invisible stealth fighter, from Arnold Gundars (Malcolm McDowell). Superspy Carlos (Gary Cole) is too recognizable to do the job. Kelly Robinson (Eddie Murphy) is a brash loudmouth champion boxer. Scott works with Robinson to track boxing fan Gundars before he can sell the plane. The duo is joined by Famke Janssen.

Owen Wilson and Eddie Murphy are both great comedic actors. They have good chemistry together having fun trading punchlines. The problem is the serious story. The comedy works better than the thriller. I have to admit that I never saw the TV show. So I have no idea what they're attempting to replicate. Maybe it was an advantage to not have any expectations at all.

"I Spy" is an action comedy starring Owen Wilson as the opposite of your usual James Bond, and Eddie Murphy as the cocky boxer assigned to help him. Wilson and Murphy are pretty funny together, but sometimes their constant arguing gets overdone and rather old.

Still, the two have good chemistry and you will always be sure to laugh when you put on "I Spy". About the action, well, it's okay. It sure isn't as good as "Bad Boys" or "Bad Company", but that's not really what this film is geared for anyway. Plus, Murphy and Wilson are STILL ARGUING during the action (this is when it gets old!).

Entertaining, but a little annoying, I give "I Spy" a 6.5/10.

This movie was terrible and filled with many plot holes. I still don't understand why a boxing champ would be picked to work with spies. It made no sense. And Eddie Murphy is his usual annoying self. Plus, they had some ridiculous spy gadgets: an invisible jet; a eye contact that is a camera. It was silly. And the whole double agent plot at the end was just more confusing. I guess it was supposed to be funny, but nothing was funny about this movie.

FINAL VERDICT: Don't watch this yet another bad Eddie Murphy movie.