Espías

While Melissa McCarthy's investigator in "The Heat" was both a fine cop and a sexual dynamo, inspiring many heartbroken men, she has made a thriving career by playing boisterous and irresponsible characters with high-level security clearance.

The actress' abilities are enhanced by Paul Feig's "Spy," which gives her the opportunity to travel the globe as CIA operative Susan Cooper while surprising both those around her and herself. Bradley Fine, a stylish super-spy, is guided through perilous situations by Susan, a ten-year veteran of the organization.

The only CIA agent who can find Rayna DeLuca, who wants to buy a renegade nuclear weapon from the DeLuca family, is Susan. She is given drab undercover identities and gadgets that are disguised as stool softener, toe-fungus spray, and hemorrhoid wipes by her boss despite her proficiency with a headset and computer screen.

Rayna is the subject of Susan's tracking and reporting, but she ends up getting close and personal with her. The scenes between McCarthy and Byrne are brutally funny and full of insult comedy. Feig gives McCarthy a comic foil in the form of Peter Serafinowicz, Jason Statham, and Miranda Hart while also treating the spy narrative seriously enough to keep us interested.

While "Spy" contains more blood and violence than typical espionage films, the humour is never compromised. It serves as a reminder of the peril Susan faces while also demonstrating how cartoonish many modern espionage dramas have turned out to be. The movie "Spy" by McCarthy and Feig stands out because it managed to keep me smiling while simultaneously making me wonder who was actually pulling the strings.

Spy is an action comedy starring the versatile and hilarious actress Melissa McCarthy. This movie is an American version of a James Bond movie, with added humor—but not in the manner of movies like Johnny English (2003) or Mordecai (2015). It's not a parody. The movie has a rather serious and complex plot complete with red herrings and twists. I wouldn't say it's completely realistic, but it's just enough to make it very funny without being too outlandish. It reminds me of one of my all time favorite action comedies "True Lies" (1994), where in both films unlikely people are thrust into CIA missions. Susan Cooper (McCartney) is a CIA agent who works as a guide for Bradley Fine (Jude Law). While Fine is doing field work, he is equipped with cameras. Cooper watches these cameras and alerts Fine of oncoming danger. During a mission to stop the transferring of a nuclear bomb, the cameras begin to malfunction, Cooper's images become unclear, and Fine is shot. The CIA chooses to put Cooper on the field to continue Fine's mission. Cooper has been at her desk her entire career, however Cooper is considered a CIA agent and therefore is considered qualified to take on the mission, although she is seemingly far from fit for the job in many ways. Being that Cooper has always worked at a desk, she is completely unknown to the enemies and can thus work well undercover. Having worked with Fine all these years, and having deeper feelings for Fine than even he knew, Cooper feels it is her duty to avenge Fine's death. She sets off to Europe jumping from one crazy circumstance to another. She quickly become more than meets the eye as her quick wit and even physical abilities are unleashed. This is a great comedy filled with witty banter, British satire, slapstick comedy and even some raunchy humor. Stay for the credits—even they're funny.

This movie is action in a comedy way.

I don't know how to describe it, but it was a good time I spent on it.

Every scene that Jason appears in I just laugh.

Great acting from all of the actors, no more to say.

Kingsman: The Secret Service started a beautiful new wave of James Bond satire films. It's been done before but never quite as meta as it was in Kingsman, actively referencing how similar the plot and archetypes are to James Bond while still having a refreshing novelty factor and interesting characters of its own - creating this whole new world for the over-the-top James Bond-esque adventures to take place while the real James Bond canon continues its serious, grounded story arc.

While Kingsman was about setting up this elite organization and showing off their penchant for ridiculously elaborate action sequences, Spy has little exposition and throws you right into this hysterical world where Jude Law is the super suave secret agent and Melissa McCarthy acts as his eyes and ears back at headquarters. Jason Statham comes in later as a rogue agent who is as arrogant as he is oblivious. The movie doesn't itself seriously but it never goes into parody territory. These characters, as overblown and ridiculous as they are, still have relatable personalities, and you're willing to go on this crazy adventure with them right from the start.

Spy is very much an action comedy - whether you view it more as an action movie or as a comedy is completely up to you. I found it hilarious within the first minute and was laughing heartily throughout the entire movie, but there's no denying that the action sequences are incredibly well done. Specifically, the fight between Susan Cooper (McCarthy) and a female assassin in a kitchen, the opening sequence of Cooper alerting Bradley Fine (Law) where enemies are while Fine sweeps them up in a rat maze full of baddies, and the scene with the car where Cooper mops the floor with a handful of terrorists with little to no effort. If you aren't laughing at the jokes, you can laugh at how insane and over-the-top the action is - either way, it's an incredibly fun time.

What I find most compelling about Spy is how likable each character is. It's not just McCarthy, Law, and Statham with a bunch of stoic supporting characters. No, even the supporting characters are hilarious and interesting. Miranda Hart plays Cooper's goofy friend who does dumb things with the best of intentions, Rose Byrne plays the villainous daughter of a rich terrorist and has some excellent back-and-forth bickering with McCarthy, and Peter Serafinowicz plays Aldo: a sleazy Frenchman who absolutely loves women and especially their boobs. They all have moments of hilarity; even the main antagonist played by Bobby Cannavale who is supposed to be a classy businessman has quirky one-liners and the funniest villain run I've seen in recent memory. Oh, and 50 Cent is in it playing 50 Cent. Yeah, it's as crazy as it sounds.

As far as lead performances go, this is the funniest Melissa McCarthy has ever been. This is the ideal role for her because her character has a serious job and a serious mission juxtaposed with McCarthy's snarky personality and usual shenanigans, making for some truly hysterical situations. Jason Statham, however, is the real highlight here. The man is brilliant in this role. He's a tough-guy agent that goes around bragging about how badass he is and goes on to do the stupidest things ever while still keeping a straight face and menacing persona - essentially a parody of his usual roles. His rants are comedy gold simply because it's Statham doing them. He proves here that he's not only one of the greatest action stars working today but also one of the funniest. The fact that he even agreed to this movie says a lot about Statham's attitude - he's a great sport and isn't afraid to make fun of himself, and I really hope this earns him more comedic roles in the future.

Spy was everything I wanted it to be and more. I laughed harder at this movie than I did at most comedies in the past decade. The production value was fantastic, the pacing was perfect, and director Paul Feig clearly knows how to do comedy but now can add action to his resume. Everything about this movie works. It also allows James Bond to continue its serious endeavors, Kingsman to handle the classy yet gritty side of secret agents, while Spy focuses on the campy and silly nature of the whole affair. I sincerely hope this gets a franchise because there are too many great things happening for it not to get a sequel. On it's own however, Spy is an absolutely brilliant, perfectly casted satire that should not be missed by fans of action, comedy, or fun.

This is hardly the first or last spy parody movie. Some nail it (Johnny English), and some miss badly (the Austin Powers sequels). This one was just plain perfect. There's nothing original, but every cast member - McCarthy especially - nails every part. Comedies like this work best with real characters and unreal plots. Paul Feig clearly gets that. I laughed. A lot.