Um Espião e Meio

Here comes another buddy cop film,this time with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart in the lead roles.I thought this movie would fail miserably.I thought it was ripping off Ride Along(which is not a good film to rip off) but it surprisingly stands on its own and makes for a fun time at the movies.Bob Stone asks his old classmate,Calvin Joyner to help him with his computer skills.I don't really like Kevin Hart all that much,because he plays the same character in every film and even though he does have acting skills,he goes OTT in every performance.But his character is a bit more serious in this one and Dwayne Johnson is awesome as ever in his role.The main strength of this movie is the chemistry between the 2 leads.They are so much fun to watch.One is a fearless agent and the other a normal guy who can't even hold a gun.There are some nice jokes and gags as well.

On the downside,the film falters sometimes in the plot section.Yet another OTT performance by Kevin Hart(as mentioned above) I wish the action scenes had a bit more lustre in them.But do not be bothered by that because this is the action junkie in me speaking,and you may like this movie more than I did.

This movie isn't completely flawless,nor is it totally groundbreaking in the buddy cop genre.But it is still worth watching in the theatre,thanks to the chemistry between the 2 leads and a lot of laughs.

Forget about the formulaic spies plot and its flaws, the film does not look silly for the wise decision of making it into a comedy and it sparks thanks to the strong rapport between Johnson and Hart. The thriller may seems to be dumb and lack of inventiveness in all the right ways but it is also a bit smarter than what audiences could have expected. The hilarious but not nonsense actions, sweet high- school buddies friendships, comedy about bullies and inspiration to transform a better oneself however are all blended well into this lack-of-originality thriller; though insufficient to generate big humors, it is still able to keep your smile till the end. The film centralises on the delightful chemistry between the two actors, both Hart and Johnson deliver a cheerful bromantic, especially the latter who takes his character and silliness seriously other than just knowing to flex muscles. It might lack in depth to explain about the quest of the mission but it is overall entertaining due to the commitment of the cast to bring us laughter.

Recently a lot of Kevin Hart's movies have been pretty lack luster. The Ride Along movies and Get Hard were shredded by critics. When I saw the trailer for Central Intelligence, I thought this would be just another one of those flicks. Thankfully, I was very wrong! The page here lists the film as an "action, comedy, crime" movie but really it is more of a "action, comedy, drama" flick. Dwayne Johnson plays the gentle giant Bob Stone/Robby Weirdicht (haha pun) who works for the CIA while Kevin Hart plays the everyday joe Calvin Joyner (a nice change of pace in my opinion). These two are the reason this film works as pure entertainment. They have great chemistry together and they play rather interesting characters. Robby is on the same level as Jason Bourne when it comes to hand to hand combat and other spy stuff like that but he has the sensitivity and the tastes of a fourteen year old girl. I don't care who you are, you have to admit that's hilarious. Calvin was the favorite student of his high school but now he is just a washed up accountant upset with where his life has gone. Hart and Johnson bring some real comedy to their roles as well as true conviction. You can believe that these two are dealing with some real emotional problems. I never thought of either of them as good actors but they do a splendid job here. The stunts they pull also look so very realistic. They are very thrilling and pretty creative too. Now the movie isn't without problems-what movie is? The spy portion of the plot is pretty straight forward and shallow. It's obviously just an excuse to get these two together but is that really such a bad thing when what they are offering is so good? Central Intelligence is kind of like that movie Twins with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito. Two popular actors play as comic foils to one another as well as provide great drama with some cool stunts thrown in. What more could you want?

Central Intelligence is the kind of fun, theatrically released action comedy that has unfortunately disappeared now that streaming services have made it their mission to fail miserably at making these competently. The film's attempt to be twisty doesn't work because it's always obvious what's actually going on and there are major luls between laughs but the strong comedic double act works overtime to counterbalance those issues.

Mileage will vary depending on how comfortable you are with Kevin Hart doing his usual high pitched, highly erratic shtick and if it's not a deal breaker he's a fun lead who can constantly acknowledge how absurd it all is. Dwayne Johnson actually changes his persona as he plays an overly excited, generally kind person who is still a trained killer and his arc involving overcoming his high school bully is great. It's easy to see why these two keep teaming up based on their chemistry here.

Rawson Marshall Thurber's direction is a lot more comfortable with the comedy than the action and thankfully it does commit to its strengths more than the weaknesses. The action is a little too choppy and clumsy in a way that only an action comedy that puts the comedy first can get away with. Putting the outtakes in end credits never backfires and it's a wonderful inclusion here as it gives the film some of its biggest and most consistent laughs.

Central Intelligence sees a high school fat kid Rob Wierdich who is humiliated at his last day in school being transformed into muscular but timid Rob Stone (Dwayne Johnson) who is now a CIA operative.

Twenty years later and with a high school reunion on the horizon Stone hooks up with Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart) the star student known as the Golden Jet and the only one who came to Wierdich's aid. Joyner's career as an accountant has not been as stellar that high school promised but Stone wants to use his skills to decrypt some financial transactions. The agency thinks that Stone has gone rogue and are out to get him.

This is essentially a buddy action comedy. Hart is actually the straight man, leaving the light goofy comedy to Johnson. They make a good team but the plot is too formulaic and unadventurous. Still the offbeat characterisation from Hart and Johnson makes this film amusing enough.