The family film formula that pairs muscular actors (usually police or ex-military members) with children is quite often used in Hollywood, for the role models themselves we can see in Schwarzenegger (Kindergarten Cop), Hulk Hogan (Mr Nanny, Suburban Commando), Dwayne Johnson (involving most of his filmography), even Vin Diesel has tried this genre (The Pacifier). Some of these formulas are successful in churning the stomach, but not a few are not funny and even tend to be weird. This time it was Dave Bautista's turn to try this genre with his co-star Chloe Coleman as a small child who he had to take care of and often caused difficulties for the action. This action comedy film was directed by Peter Segal and written by Jon and Erich Hoeber for the story. The film was released in Australia on 9 January 2020, followed in the UK on 13 March 2020 and 17 April 2020 in the US.
Once upon a time, JJ (Dave Bautista) is a CIA agent who is good at eliminating dangerous enemies of the US but has a lack of social skills so that it often causes big losses for the CIA. In his final mission all the enemies die and the plutonium material for the manufacture of nuclear weapons is taken away by a terrorist who is not killed. An annoyed Kim Trang (Ken Jeong) still gives JJ one last chance on a domestic mission to spy on a mother, Kate (Parisa Fitz-Henley) and her 9-year-old daughter Sophie (Chloe Coleman) who recently returned from Paris and are suspected of possessing connection with Marquez (Greg Byrk), a suspected terrorist who is none other than Sophie's uncle. In this recon mission JJ also has to accept being paired with partner tech expert Bobbi (Kristen Schaal) who is clumsy and likes to throw sarcasm humor. Their surveillance efforts were uncovered by Sophie thanks to her shrewdness and she threatened to leak it to social media if JJ didn't help her provide knowledge and training to be a secret agent. Will JJ still succeed in completing his mission or will he be caught in more difficult difficulties due to Sophie?
After watching this film, I felt quite happy because this film was slightly above my expectations because at first I was skeptical about the premise of this film and the main cast, which is Dave Bautista. However, my stigma changed after seeing that with a slight improvement in the story, this film actually has the potential to become a memorable family film. The duration of 99 minutes has been maximized to present a narrative story which is actually quite strange and does not make sense for the category of a spy film. But let's put logic aside first because the main selling point of this film is a comedy that is friendly to watch by the whole family. The weakness of this film is that the story is not so well structured and all problems seem to be solved easily. It is undeniable that the depth of JJ and Sophie's relationship is well developed, so does Kate so it makes us empathize and connect with this family. Likewise, Bobbi's role adds to the lively comedy element in this film. This film is suitable for releasing boredom because the story is light and quite straightforward, the conclusion is closed quite interestingly and quite touching.
Seeing the success of Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) transforming into a very successful A-class Hollywood actor, his colleagues from the world of wrestling are also trying their luck. Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Kane Hodder, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, John Cena and Dave Bautista are some of the names trying to gain popularity, especially in the action genre. From these names John Cena slowly began to show improvement in every film he starred in and the scale of the film also moved up, Steve Austin only managed to become an actor in B-class films, Kane is better known as an antagonist character and now it seems that he is no longer heard . Dave Bautista himself seems to be still in the process of finding the right shape and character formula for him, his role as Drax in the marvel saga is enough to catalyze his name but the character he plays in his films still lacks many dimensions. In My Spy, he seems to show his acting skills are starting to improve and are quite "organic" with all his co-stars, be it with Chloe, Kristen, or Parisa. He seemed quite relaxed and seemed to be himself. Chloe and Bobbi are the two scene stealer casts in this film because they are able to bring humor and unexpected things throughout the film. For the antagonist character, there is nothing special because it was deliberately held to complement the story. whether it's with Chloe, Kristen, or Parisa. He seemed quite relaxed and seemed to be himself. Chloe and Bobbi are the two scene stealer casts in this film because they are able to bring humor and unexpected things throughout the film. For the antagonist character, there is nothing special because it was deliberately held to complement the story. whether it's with Chloe, Kristen, or Parisa. He seemed quite relaxed and seemed to be himself. Chloe and Bobbi are the two scene stealer casts in this film because they are able to bring humor and unexpected things throughout the film. For the antagonist character, there is nothing special because it was deliberately held to complement the story.
Segal seems to want to show a family film that doesn't just focus on action stories but has a moral message about trust and friendship. Segal also includes elements of love and how the life of being a single parent is quite strong throughout this film. The interaction that developed between Dave and Sophie was quite good and balanced, as well as the chemistry between Dave and Parisa which was unfortunately only briefly described because Segal wanted to focus more on the dynamics of Dave and Sophie's acting. This film contains a strong message about the importance of honesty in fostering any relationship that is depicted through JJ and Kate's romantic relationship because JJ's initial motivation was to find a way to be close to Sophie's family so that their true motives would not be discovered. From the side of friendship, Segal gives an interesting contrast between JJ's relationship with Sophie and JJ's with Bobbi, that friendship should be sincere and not picky or based on the principle of benefit. Segal managed to assemble scenes and stories in the film to convey these messages in a relaxed manner with the right level of humor. This film is suitable to be watched with family and proves that Dave Bautista deserves the opportunity to play this kind of film again.
