My Spy The Eternal City

My Spy back in 2020 was one of those many lockdown releases that, desperate for something to take the edge off the tedium of being confined to homes (aside from our allowed daily walks which I took advantage of to hunt Pokemon), was a fun, if unmemorable film with just enough charm to carry it through.  As I settled in to watch this sequel, I was very aware that I had pretty much no memory of the first film – those were certainly dark times we seem to have collectively wiped much of from our minds.

This sequel once again pairs Dave Bautista up with Chloe Coleman as JJ, the CIA operative who was assigned to watch over the young girl in the first film, and Chloe.  Chloe now aspires to be an agent herself, but as she is entering adolescence also has the issue of boys on her mind, one in particular being a fellow student who she dreams about being assigned as his bodyguard when he becomes a famous singer.   JJ is finding difficulty in connecting with the now teenage Sophie, and finds she rejects him as a father figure despite all his best intentions.  When a school trip to Italy arises, where the school choir that Sophie is part of are entered into a contest to be performed at the Vatican, JJ tags along to watch over Sophie, as well as the son of his CIA boss David Kim.  However, a terrorist plot is playing out around the group, which soon sees suspicions arise around all the parties, as a threat to world peace arises.

This sequel is pretty much more of the same as the last film, only with an attempt at a grander scale, and much like the first film is simply an average piece of escapism that won’t leave any lasting impression for good or for bad.  Much like the first film, the mess of ideas and lazy plotting holds up purely on the presence of Bautista, who can play comic action to perfection, and the chemistry he has with Coleman’s Chloe.  Around them the support cast will either add enjoyment or annoyance, all dependent on how you generally feel about Ken Jeong and Kristen Schaal, who play their usual schticks to the maximum here.  Anna Faris is on hand, but lacks any of the old Faris charm and presence, making her pretty much underserved by the material she is given to work with, and Craig Robinson pops up to, well, be Craig Robinson in a role.  All the while a pretty standard action film plays around the cast, with nary any feel of threat on offer throughout.

Immediately forgettable – I struggled to care for the terrorist threat plot going on – My Spy The Eternal City tries to up the stakes over the first film, but only holds up on the lower stakes of the coming of age drama aspect going on with the central cast.  Had this been lockdown again this would be a nice bit of diversion, but as we aren’t, this is yet another film that joins the deluge of underwhelming streaming action comedies, and is probably worth skipping over.