Miniature star runs rings around wrestler-turned-actor David Bautista in My Spy
Here comes another all-ages action comedy where a maladjusted man-mountain squares off against a mischievous mini. But the questionable humour and excess violence will have you wondering just how family-friendly this movie actually is.
Leigh Paatsch
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Here comes another family-friendly comedy where a maladjusted man-mountain squares off against a mouthy, mischievous moppet.
These are the kind of movies that, in the past, the likes of Dwayne Johnson and Arnold Schwarzenegger have been able to do with their eyes closed.
While the all-ages action-adventure affair that is My Spy never falls apart completely, its half-hearted push to make a loveable lug out of brawny behemoth Dave Bautista (Drax from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise) is a most uninspired effort.
Bautista stars as JJ, a seasoned CIA operative who has been pulled from the field for being too trigger-happy, no matter the gravity of the situation.
Demoted to a crummy domestic surveillance gig, the slow-witted JJ soon finds himself being blackmailed by a quick-thinking 9-year-old girl named Sophie (Chloe Coleman).
If JJ does not agree to Sophie’s terms and school her in what it takes to be a spy, she will inform the CIA his cover has been blown – by a little kid, of all things! – and it will be career over for poor old JJ.
Just like the characters they are playing, the youngster Coleman runs rings around her older co-star when it comes to performance skills.
The disparity actually makes she and Bautista a watchable enough screen pairing, even if the movie itself suddenly dips in quality due to questionable humour and excess violence.
MY SPY (PG)
Director: Peter Segal (Second Act)
Starring: Dave Bautista, Chloe Coleman, Kristen Schaal.
Rating: **
Big fella, little kid, small return.
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