Have you noticed that lately Hollywood is getting very free with creative license?  Frequently the spy movies are bringing in civilian, unqualified people to help the trained spies do their jobs. Well for instance Spy Kids, XXX, and now I Spy staring Eddie Murphy (The Nutty Professor II) and Owen Wilson (Behind Enemy Lines). This might make for a nice campy comedy, but if you are going for believability, then forget it.  Just like XXX had its comedic moments, I Spy, directed by Betty Thomas, is a comedy that parodies spy movies. Just remember that, if you are looking for a more serious movie full of action. In fact the chase scene resembled something from a silent film with the Keystone cops than an action film. Murphy is boxer Kelly Robinson and Wilson is Alexander Scott, a recently promoted special agent. We know he is recently promoted because of the scene from the trailer where he states two weeks ago he was just an agent now, he is special.

This movie begins with Wilson climbing a snow-covered mountain to recover an incarcerated American pilot that sold his cloaking plane to terrorists. Answering his cell phone he creates an avalanche and both of them tumble to the bottom of this mountain. Wilson is fine and still takes the call while the pilot is buried except for his legs sticking out of the snow. On the way to the rescue team Wilson gets the pilot killed and bumbles the mission. Back at headquarters he plans for his next mission, getting the plane back from the terrorists it was sold to. This is where we learn of his love for special agent Rachel (Famke Janssen, Don’t Say a Word), and his jealousy for the real special agent Carlos (Gary Cole, One Hour Photo) who gets better spy toys than him and got to be on a two-week stakeout with Rachel. While this is taking place, Robinson is getting his 57th win and getting ready to fight again in one week in Budapest for number 58. President GW calls and requests the aid of Robinson in Budapest, which he agrees to nonchalantly.

Yes, 009 1/2 as he refers to himself (I think that is his shoe size and not the innuendo he is passing off) tells everyone that he is on a secret mission now.  So a guy who can't keep his mouth shut, who is so arrogant he won't follow directions and insists on doing everything his way is going to be a spy - yeah I buy that.  Alex has to trick Robinson into doing things the proper way with spy gadgets. Yes, when he dangles shiny objects in front of Robinson he gets interested. So Robinson leads Alex into one mess after another until they stumble into the cloaking plane he was looking for. Do I buy that neither one got killed? No, but after all it is a movie, do I buy the two actually becoming friends after a night of bonding in the sewer? No, but again it is a movie. Do I buy any of this movie? No, but it wasn't really an action movie or a regular comedy, it was more of a parody, so it was supposed to be silly and campy. Also appearing in this film were Phil Lewis (Bowfinger), Viv Leacock, T.J., Joe Cortez, Malcolm McDowell and Sugar Ray Leonard.

I Spy has some funny scenes and Murphy was typical Eddie Murphy comedy, loud, obnoxious and over the top. The only semi nudity came from Rachel and she wasn't all that. So there wasn't much in the way of anything for anyone to look at, overall I gave I Spy six couches out of 10.

Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:48:39 AM

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