The Stream: Predictable to a Max

The Big Screen: Super enjoyable performances by Bautista and Coleman

The Final Bill: A predictable but fun Kindergarten Cop upgrade

-S2S: Movie Review
Director: Peter Segal
Writers: Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber
Stars: Dave Bautista, Chloe Coleman, Parisa Fitz-Henley | See full cast & crew »
Genre: Action, Comedy, Family 
Runtime: 1 hour 33 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Platform: Prime Video

Welcome back, Streamers! One benefit of being stuck inside all of the time… is the movies that studios are forced to bring to us. We have been blessed by this mess and I’m grateful for the blessings I have. One of those blessings this week was My Spy. This movie is starring Dave Bautista, as JJ, the meathead C.I.A. agent that gets selected to do the one job he can “handle” by watching a daughter and mother, Chloe Coleman, as Sophie, and Parisa Fitz-Henley, as Kate. We all know what happens after that. This movie is exactly what the trailer shows you (check it out below). If you think it’s going to happen in the movie… Oh, yeah, it’s going to happen. And do you know what? It’s still hilarious. I’ll admit I’d written this movie off when it was coming to the theaters but since it came to a streaming service I had to give it a shot. Here it goes.

Dave Bautista, as rigid and mono-tone, as he is, just has “it”. And, by “it,” I mean that comedic gene. Maybe you love him as Drax in the MCU, but you might say it’s the writing. In my opinion, Bautista still hits hard in My Spy. He doesn’t have the range of everyone’s favorite Dwayne Johnson… yet. I think if he gets a few more diverse roles that don’t stifle his growth then he can possibly get there. Did we really think that Arnold Schwarzenegger was going to give us comedic gold throughout the years? We didn’t, but here we are watching Kindergarten Cop and Jingle All the Way every year. On the flip side, Chloe Coleman is just a pleasure. Now, they may have given her all the great lines in this movie, but her comedic acting ability is evident. She jumps off the screen… except in her like cry moment… that was forced trash but otherwise so much fun.

Bautista and Coleman give The Rock and Kevin Hart a run for their money in this one and, respectively, they are both the same heights. I doubt we’ll see another Bautista/Coleman team up, but I hope we see each of them in other parts. My Spy provides action, comedy, and that needed feeling of companionship we can’t achieve during the pandemic. This movie created with chemistry and charisma what Coffee and Kareem tried, and failed, to create with vulgarity.

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by My Spy. I thought this would be a cliched and predictable big bad guy and little kid flick and it was but like Kindergarten Cop back in the day this was ultimately a guilty pleasure film that I don’t really feel guilty about. As part of the world goes back to quarantining and the other half tries to figure out re-opening properly, grab a bowl of popcorn and check out My Spy on Prime Video.