There’s a long storied tradition, throughout film history, wherein a man of physically imposing stature, is forced to take care of or team up with a small child. Schwarzenegger did it in Kindergarten Cop. Lundgren followed his footsteps in the DTV sequel 26 years later. Hogan did it in Mr. Nanny. Diesel did it in The Pacifier. HHH (Paul Levesque) did it in The Chaperone. Heck, even though he doesn’t have the same make up, Jackie Chan went down that road in The Spy Next Door. All this to say that it’s a trope that gets trotted out every few years. Often with a wrestler in the lead. Well, this time they went and got Dave Bautista to fill the spot. That, beyond anything else is enough to get us interested in the new film, My Spy. See for yourself.
Now in all fairness, this looks quite cute. Things blow up. People’s faces get punched. A kid is smarter than she appears. Decent stuff. Part of what appears to elevate things though, is the pairing of Bautista and Chloe Coleman (Big Little Lies). It just works, in that “non-threatening family friendly” sort of way. If it susses out even a minor chuckle, that’s a passing grade, right? It’s the pieces surrounding it, which look paper thin. Something the official synopsis makes clear:
“MY SPY follows JJ a hardened CIA operative (Dave Bautista) who has been demoted and finds himself at the mercy of a precocious 9-year-old girl, named Sophie (Chloe Coleman) where he has been sent undercover begrudgingly to surveil her family. When Sophie discovers hidden cameras in her apartment she uses her tech savviness to locate where the surveillance operation is set. In exchange for not blowing JJ’s cover Sophie convinces him to spend time with her and teach her to be a spy. Despite his reluctance JJ finds he is no match for Sophie’s disarming charm and wit.”
Again, by putting Bautista in this film, you have our attention. He’s proven himself as wrestler-turned-actor, who wants to set his sights on bigger things, than merely being a face. You don’t line up a Marvel franchise, Blade Runner and Dune, if you just want to hang around. It’s just that occasionally you have to pay your dues and this could be one of those times. Having Peter Segal (Tommy Boy, Grudge Match) in the director’s chair, says it a toss up how this one turns out. On the other hand, the stars could align for something simple and fun.
Did you all find the trailer cute? Does Bautista’s involvement get you to buy a seat? How many are in this for Chloe Coleman? Sound off in the space provided below. My Spy doesn’t have a release date, but we’d expected it to invade theaters. sometime before the end of the year. In the meantime, here’s the film’s official poster. To tide you over till we have more news, plan on watching WrestleMania 35 this Sunday (April 7th). Where one of the main matches just happens to be Bautista vs the previously mentioned HHH. Hopefully the feud stems from who made the better family friendly film. Only time will truly tell.
