Spy (2015)

Written and Directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids)

Starring:

Melissa McCarthy (Gilmore Girls)

Jude Law (Gattaca)

Jason Statham (The Italian Job)

Rose Byrne (X-Men: First Class)

Allison Janney (West Wing)

Bobby Cannavale (Snakes on a Plane)

Morena Baccarin (Firefly)

Miranda Hart

With Paul Feig at the helm wielding a remarkable throng of talent we get a comically sustained, high stakes espionage film that refreshingly puts women in positions of narrative power.  The strengths of “Spy” lie in its aversion to convention, its crude yet intelligent action-comic tone, and its spectacularly deep level of talent on screen led by Melissa McCarthy. 

This possible franchise starter is fantastic. Exhilarating in both comic tenacity and visual flare. Feig and McCarthy handle mayhem superbly and running gags keep you actively chasing jokes. Sadly but proudly, I was the only one of a particular niche who laughed at a sneaky hip hop joke. Kudos for that.  

Feig manages to never compromise vulgarity while injecting compelling stakes AND giving women all the good characters.  It’s something so rare that Feig, McCarthy, Byrne, and Janney make seem so simple. Beyond that, Feig has been arguably the most successful filmmaker in terms of progressing female characters not only within comedies, but in film. The guy is platinum right now. (Check out his latest series, “Other Space”  on Yahoo Screen)

“Spy” equals the triumph of the “Jump Street” films. It is tonally identical to them but instead of overt meta-humor, laughter is drawn out of characters' stories. The minor characters (including throw-aways like a simple henchmen) are afforded a sincere complexity. This abundance of character building here finds its antithesis hilariously in Furious Seven. (That’s a compliment to the inventiveness of both films. While we're on that film, Furious Seven also stars Jason Stathom, using him quite similarly in what may become known as Stathoming.)

Another accomplishment of “Spy” is that Feig aptly peppers the major players across the storyscape in both respectful and creatively poignant ways. Top-billed names may go missing for chunks of time but they all shine when the spotlight finds them. It could be said that they are Stathoming effectively. Generally, each storyline is tied up. Every potential plot obstacle (plotstacle) is pleasantly and intelligently averted. Villainy was daftly on display. Like the baddies in Feig's “The Heat” (2013), they were sinister and stupid but always in appropriate amounts. 

Melissa McCarthy is finally set free with an awesome character that can go toe to toe with Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt. Jason Statham hasn't been this good since Lock Stock. Rose Byrne was brilliantly sadistic with a subtle hint of humanity and her character was some ride. Janney and Miranda Hart never felt unwelcomed while Jude Law, who may have been miscast, still filled the role capably. 

While there is a romantic undertone, lessons are learned and smart decisions are actually made. The initial push for Agent Susan Cooper may have been her unrequited love of man's man but the message of the story is ultimately one of self realization. That lingering lack of agency for what is meant to be a strong female character is, in the end, not compromised. It is however, ridiculed, which is acceptable for a comedy.  

Where it did misstep was in weaving the conspiracy a bit too much. While every plot line was addressed in some way, we're never given a holistic resolution. Certain threads feel hollower than others, like they wanted to set something up for the future. That maneuver is slightly insulting to the integrity of a self-contained story. 

Visually, this movie found upped sexy. By that I mean the sultry mistress that is slow motion and the supermodels of camera shots, the overhead. These weapons of mass dope-itude were paired off better than a hunk of mozzerella with some tangy Catalina dressing. And let's not forget the occasional blitz of zooms! Elements that should be carelessly abused by every movie where carelessly abused by this movie and for that, it has been bestowed the honorable Bag of Yes for films that refuse to say "no, don't do that!" Thankfully, and with astonishingly little delay, “Spy” injects visual gooeyness and it goes on to be fantastically liberal with the lens for the entire runtime. Shout out to the high speed camera team.

I look forward to Feig and McCarthy's "Ghostbusters" reboot. Go, Suki, go! 

2015 Rankdown:

1.      Kingsman: The Secret Service****

2.     Mad Max: Fury Road***

3.     Spy***

4.     Avengers: Age of Ultron****

5.     Furious 7***

6.     Predestination*

7.     Run All Night*

8.     Jupiter Ascending

9.     Ex Machina

(*denoted rewatchability)