In My Spy, JJ (Dave Bautista) is a no-nonsense CIA operative who is good at combat but he has his spy skills questioned by his boss Kim Trang (Ken Jeong). His boss puts him on a mission with unlikely partner Bobbi Ault (Kristen Schaal) to go undercover and surveillance a widowed mother and her daughter to make sure that they are safe from a family member who is a potential threat to them, but the mission goes pear shaped when nine year old Sophie (Chloe Coleman) blows their cover, having the spies at her mercy.
After blackmailing JJ to do some favours for her, Sophie decides that she would like to learn how to become a spy, which JJ reluctantly agrees to help with, much to the annoyance of his partner Bobbi who was hoping to learn a couple of spy tricks of her own while teaming up with JJ. But what Sophie really wants, is to get JJ to date her mother Kate (Parisa Fitz-Henley), which causes a conflict of interest with the mission.
While My Spy isn’t anything new, it can be heartfelt at times and it does have some genuinely funny moments. Unfortunately, as a film, I find that it mostly falls flat due in part to the predictable plot and jokes. Dave Bautista is fine as JJ, playing the socially awkward but brutally honest character to the others in the story, which causes him to inadvertently hurt people’s feelings. While Bautista plays this off well, I felt that his character JJ in My Spy was too reminiscent of his character Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy, simply a watered down version.
Kristen Schaal was very entertaining as Bobbi, especially when she would become jealous of Sophie. She also has some brilliant one-liners at the expense of JJ. Chloe Coleman delivers the most impressive performance in the film. As Sophie she has some of the most heartfelt moments on-screen, such as being a lonely girl with no friends and with a mother who is always at work. Coleman also has incredible comic-timing when her character is training to be a spy and Sophie outsmarts JJ with each lesson. Even though Coleman was one the youngest actors in the film she was also probably the most versatile.
My Spy follows a familiar plot and formula, but unfortunately offers nothing new. Despite this, it still works and is perfect for viewing if you just want to switch your brain off for a few hours and have a couple of laughs.
My Spy is in cinemas now.