The movie is funny, made me laugh a few times. Statham is brilliant, he's the highlight of the movie for me. McCarthy is funny enough when she's subtle, but when she resorts to being loud and physical I feel annoyed by it. Mostly this movies revolves around a lot of cliches that I think know-one can find rewarding. The chemistry between the characters works well, and there's a fun dialogues going on between them. Mainly there's a lack of originality though and it runs too long, to really excel. It has the humor right most of the time, but ultimately it's just a comedy that gets lost between so many others for me.

C+

Melissa McCarthy's star has never shined brighter than in the new action/comedy/CIA propos Spy. American comedies are rarely so well balanced between visual and verbal humor and crucially, Spy refuses to use McCarthy's weight as a punchline. This is not simply discipline. Shrewdly Spy instead introduces McCarthy's agent Susan Cooper as having allowed herself to never move beyond the desk job of assisting Jude Law's Agent Fine on missions he seems barely capable of carrying out. Believing the negative reinforcement of her male supervisors, she is unfairly overlooked by the seductive Agent Fine and by extension the rest of her agency. When all of the active agents identities are exposed, she is finally provided an opportunity to prove herself in the field. Filthy dialogue and inventive subversions of espionage tropes make this McCarthy's funniest role to date. By taking great care to show how her considerable talents have been ignored we delight when she finally cuts loose. She is buoyed a talented cast, especially Rose Byrne's chilly villainess, and is well-served by a commendable character arc of her self-doubting undercover agent blossoming only once she is allowed to have her own agency.

This is McCarthy's third collaboration with director Paul Feig. After she stole her way to a Best Supporting Actress nomination for his feature-length directorial debut Bridesmaids (fellow Apatow alum Jonah Hill and James Franco both needed to participate in dramatic roles to earn their Oscar nominations) Feig paired Melissa McCarthy's hothead cop against Sandra Bullock's prim federal agent in The Heat. While Spy may resemble the Heat as a raunchy and proudly feminist spin on a male-dominated action sub-genre, on a formal level this is easily Feig's most sophisticated work to date. Tony Zhou from Every Frame a Painting has cited both Bridesmaids and The Heat's relatively static images and nondescript transitions as examples of comedies where the humor is driven almost exclusively through dialogue. That doesn't do justice to the escalating set pieces of either film and yet it's easy to appreciate how much the humor in Spy is a balanced combination of both physical and verbal comedic set pieces that are consistently based around the characters and their intentions. The action choreography is more precise than The Heat and the overall arc of Susan Cooper provides McCarthy with an incredibly satisfying heroes journey. After seeing Susan Cooper suffer so much initial indignity, the second and third act are a consistent joy as we watch her confidently navigate her way through various identities while executing exquisitely raunchy monologues. After a first act where McCarthy is riddled by self-doubt, it's cathartic to watch her absolutely slay filthy one liners and profane monologues. If The Heat sometimes felt burdened by needing to cover the bases of a buddy cop procedural, Spy effortlessly subverts the spy genre in a way that makes it feel fresher than this 20th Century Fox's other, comparably boy's club, spy caper Kingsman: The Secret Service. Moreover McCarthy herself transcends the slovenly routine of some of her other roles and insists on not being reduced to a punchline but an absolute, bonafide star… All while retaining her acerbic wit and composure. It's a wonderful showcase of her talents. Spy has less problematic cultural programming than the nihilistic faux-populism of Kingsman but much like The Heat it does suggest the limitations of representation in an inherently authoritarian genre. An early gag involving bats that seems to imply the CIA headquarters are dramatically underfunded lands with an awkward thud and as Cooper's only competent superior, Allison Janney's sports a blond haircut that makes her resemble Hillary Clinton to the point where one wonders if it was more than intentional. After all the message of Spy seems to be that if only the men would give her a chance, a truly talented woman could run things effortlessly.

I see why people were excited about Jason Statham stretching into comedic territory but I was not particularly impressed by him here. It's amusing to see him play against type and he nails a few absurd lines but his bumbling physical comedy is rarely inspired. Besides Rose Byrne whose underplayed line delivery perfectly counters McCarthy, I believe the standout amongst the supporting cast is Peter Serafinowicz as a randy European spy sent to assist McCarthy.

The movie's not a knockout like I wanted it to be but it's fun.

I pretty much loved it. I had a blast and it was pretty hysterical. Melissa McCarthy was at the top of her game here and Rose Byrne was as well. Is it Bridesmaids? Well, no. But lets be real, anyone expecting a movie to be as funny as that one is fooling themselves. I enjoyed it a tad more than The Heat.

A-

I think it they shaved 20 minutes off it would be one of the best comedies of the year. As it stands it's flabby and a bit meandering but most scenes are quite funny and its heart is always in the right place. McCarthy/Byrne/Statham are wonderful.

An extremely funny movie and actual effective action film, Spy continues the Paul Feig/Melissa McCarthy winning streak after Bridesmaids and The Heat. The uptick in quality between this and McCarthy's last vehicle, the horrible Tammy, is shocking to behold. This may be McCarthy's finest hour to date; this is her movie and she delivers in spades. She is ably supported by hilarious turns from Jason Statham (skewering his tough guy image), a perfectly catty Rose Byrne, a debonair Jude Law, Allison Janney, and (what should be) a breakthrough supporting performance by British comedian Miranda Hart. It does feel a bit long in the end, but Spy is a really great time at the movies that deserves to make a boatload of money. A-

This was absolutely fantastic. Such a hilarious and entertaining good time at the movies. Melissa McCarthy delivers what may be a career best performance and is on top of her game here, and is matched by an equally fantastic supporting cast. The interplay between her and Rose Byrne, who once again proves she is one of the most underrated comediennes working today, is the movie's highlight. If they do a sequel that have to find a way to incorporate the both of them again. They are amazing together. The entirety of their scene on the airplane, particularly the conversation about the Bulgarian clown, is comedic gold and the hardest I've laughed in ages. The entire supporting cast is also great - particularly a scene stealing Miranda Hart and Jason Statham. I also loved the movie's message and found its entire spoof/homage to the spy film genre very refreshing. The best comedy of the year and also one of the best films of the year thus far. A

Allison Janney and Jude Law were also so great here in smaller roles. There really aren't a lot of flaws to be found here. As Libs said, it deserves to make a fortune.

Loved it. Fucking hilarious, the plot works well considering how many turns it takes, and Susan's background as a self doubting, overlooked talent works well. This and The Heat are both all around great comedies from the jokes and genre subversion to the characters having legit depth.

Spy turns a charming concept—with their flashier agents (played by, among others, Jude Law and a self-parodying Jason Statham) out of commission due to a mole's revelations, the CIA is forced to send self-doubting technician Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) into the field to stop an arms-dealing Bulgarian vixen (Rose Byrne) preparing to auction a compact nuclear weapon—into a relatively charming film, though it proves too inconsistent and overlong to qualify as a home run. The one-liners and comic stunts come fast and furious. Certain ones wither on the vine, including an inexplicable gag involving a bat-and-rat infestation at the CIA headquarters in Langley and an unwelcome extended cameo by faded hip-hop brand 50 Cent in the third act. Others soar, including McCarthy and Byrne (elaborately coiffed and accented) trading absurdly venomous barbs. In general, more of the intended humor connects than otherwise (an important ratio for a mainstream comedy), and the McCarthy character's arc of empowerment is sweet without becoming didactic or melodramatic, but the film's indulgent length is hard to ignore. It becomes too invested in the mechanics of its inane find-the-bomb storyline, a tendency ill at ease with its general inclination toward the comic and the random, and does not know when to end, becoming a minor endurance test as what could have existed perfectly as a 90-minute jaunt is engorged and prolonged to two hours.

B-

I'm actually a bit surprised at people saying it was too long. I thought it just flew by and I didn't look at the time once.

This is very disappointing for Feig in general, after really playing with genres in his last two films, I was pretty shocked how almost plot for plot this is with Get Smart, even down to the twists. It's funnier, but McCarthy is the weakest part of the film in her first starring film in a Feig film. She still holds it together enough, but as said we've seen this character so many times before. Also outside of the language the violence is relatively tame as well. Thankfully the supporting characters are downright hilarious and the best jokes are when McCarthy is interacting with them. Kingsmen was much much better than this. And Statham deserves all the praise he is getting, he's almost never been better (Not since Crank or Snatch)

B/ B+

Market is wide open for Ted 2 to really be big.

This is really good but also a bit disappointing. Not nearly as hysterical as Bridesmaids or The Heat. Nor is it as quotable. Given Feig's track record and the reviews I was expecting something much funnier. The highlight of the movie is McCarthy and Byrne's insult slinging. They were really funny. I'm surprised people are finding Miranda Hart funny though. She maybe made me laugh like once. Other than that I thought she was painfully unfunny and most of her jokes landed with a thud.

Still, I did enjoy this a good amount and would like to see a sequel. Unlike some I didn't think it felt long at all.

8/10 (B+)

A+

This is actually my second favorite movie of the year behind Kingsman.

Just a complete blast

Mau loves spy movies.

I thought this was pretty enjoyable, thanks in large part to McCarthy's charisma. The script is fine if nothing totally new, there's some good humor and a fine supporting cast. I'm not sure whether I preferred this or Kingsman. Both were fun but lacking in something.

Bish

It got a few good laughs out of me, but I'd rather watch The Heat or even Bridesmaids again over this anyday. The scenes with Jason Statham or Rose Byrne are the best and I liked what they did with Jude Law's character, but I am really starting to get tired of Melissa McCarthy always getting loud and vulgar with people in a desperate attempt to be funny and her awkward British sidekick/friend was a weird addition IMO. I didn't find her that funny and it felt unnecessary to force her into the action, but whatever. I did laugh at the stuff between her and 50 Cent which was completely unexpected LOL!.

Oh. Lists.

Bridesmaids (a classic)
Spy
The Heat (did not enjoy this one)

Spy

I was fully expecting to hate this, but it was actually pretty good, and funny too! Jason Statham and Rose Byrne were the stand outs. Statham's overly-aggressive but wholly inept spy performance was funny and it didn't get tiresome. Rose Byrne's uptight bitch routine worked throughout too, and she's fucking hot here. Melissa McCarthy was also pretty good (but more so when she isn't being the brash American). Peter Serafinowicz was the best, though. Awesome impression of the Italian stereotype. The film was simply too long. By the time they were at Bobby Cannavale's mansion, I was pretty fed up with it. Some of the humour in the film was silly, but some was good and caught me at the right time. Not sure I'll find it so funny on repeat viewings, though. Not much else to say about it. I liked it a lot more before she pretended to be Byrne's bodyguard - the unconfident "agent" was a good angle, but when she started actually kicking ass, and Jude Law came back (as if we couldn't see that a mile off), it got tiresome. Oh, and I really liked Alison Janney. Great role with some great dialogue. But to counter her we had Miranda Hart; a very annoying and unfunny moron. She was outshone by McCarthy on numerous occasions, and really lowered the overall comedy threshold in Spy.

B-

This was really enjoyable and really funny, but like the Heat before it, it fails to capture the same winning combination of heart and laughs that Bridesmaids did so masterfully. all the actors are great here. McCarthy plays a more intelligent, less obnoxious character than usual, so that was refreshing. and Rose Byrne looks the best here she has in any movie. She can literally do nothing wrong, acting or otherwise. I did see a lot of the twists coming (they weren't going to hire Jude Law for 5 minutes of screen time), but the film was still enjoyable. Unfortunately, I can't give it an A, because I don't have an urge to ever watch it again, but it is a step in the right direction as Paul Feig approaches his highest profile release ever, the long awaited Ghostbusters revival.

B+

Raised to A-.