I Spy (2002)

Eddie Murphy needed a comeback after The Adventures of Pluto Nash, but I Spy didn't provide it. As with his previous turkey, Murphy's the least of this movie's problems; his spitfire delivery begs for better plotting and dialogue, and his teaming with Owen Wilson had even more promise than Wilson's Shanghai comedies with Jackie Chan. But this unfunny hash--bearing no resemblance to the 1960s Bill Cosby-Robert Culp TV series that inspired it--undermines Murphy and Wilson at every turn, stranding them in scenes that play well in isolation but never form a coherent action-comedy. It's not that director Betty Thomas is incapable; she just seems uninterested, going through the motions while Eddie, Owen, and Famke Janssen play spy games in Budapest, chasing after a villain (Malcolm McDowell, wasted again) who's stolen a sleek, invisibility-cloaked jet bomber called the Switchblade. Explosions, shootouts, double-crosses... ignore it all, and find what pleasure you can in Eddie and Owen's aimless banter. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

haha

it is fun funny movie it makes me want to be a spy. it so cool November 9, 2008

Startlingly Bad, Definitely Unwatchable

Not even a rental. I wasted my time and money on this, but you don't have to.

The script is read like some sort of weird awkward dress rehearsal. There is a really odd and painful sort of Cyrano de Bergerac-like scene between the three characters that is just strange given the way direction handled it. Anyway enough details. The movie never gets interesting or funny. One of those movies you keep watching in the hopes it'll pick up, but never does. July 4, 2008

BRING ON THE SEQUEL!

An enjoyable film, I Spy, brings to the screen the story of an unlikely pair that has teamed up in order to recover a stolen American stealth aircraft prototype which is to be sold to the highest (criminal) bidder. A U.S. special agent and the World middleweight boxing champion will travel to Hungary to try and get back the aircraft and bring the criminals to justice.
Owen Wilson, Eddie Murphy, Famke Janssen (who is GORGEOUS!), Malcolm McDowell, and the rest of the cast carry out their performances very well.
The setting, the plot, the dialogues, the humor, and the music are all good.
I Spy is definitely a movie worth watching, and though quite silly at times, it will surely put you in a good mood and provide for an evening's entertainment.
March 8, 2008

I SPY: Suffers in Comparison with the Original

For those who come to the recent film version of the hit 1960s I SPY, there is the inevitable tendency to compare them, with the film coming off as a pale imitation. In the television series, the focus was on the delicate and artful blending of comedy and action with the magic chemistry of the actors. Viewers simply accepted the reality of a pair of government spies, only one of whom was an athlete. The viewer of the movie has a much harder job since the blending of comedy and action here is badly off center with jokes and ad libs serving as distractors rather than as advancers of the plot. There is also the tendency to see Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson in the same light as Chris Rock and Jackie Chan who played much the same pair but with far more success. In I SPY, Eddie Murphy is the too cool inner city athlete who is co-opted to be a spy by Owen Wilson. In Murphy's case, his interpretation of Kelly Robinson marks him as an overage rapper wannabe whose only focus is on impressing the ladies. In Wilson's case, he comes off as way too young and geeky to be taken seriously as a head spook. Their overly frequent head butting is supposed to entertain but too often annoys. Malcom McDowell also disappoints as the bad guy plane dealer. He seems to have forgotten how good he was in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE or in TIME AFTER TIME. Famke Janssen generates most of the tension and interest as the leggy spy whose motives are suspect. What emerges from I SPY is the dulling realization that a great deal of misplaced talent was wasted in a film that could not decide where to draw that fine line between action, humor, and brainlessness. February 18, 2008

Sorta disappointed to see SOO many bad reviews.

I am so tired of people saying Eddie Murphy isn't funny anymore. And I hear it all the time. All the time. My wife wakes up every morning, by tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "Eddie Murphy is a hack." And my neighbor says that Eddie Murphy hasn't made a good film since 48 Hours. But I like to retort that you don't stick around Hollywood for 23 years by making substandard movies. Hollywood won't tolerate it. It isn't not true. You don't get to the pinnacle of Hollywood by being phony or untalented or making bad movies. Eddie comfortably fits in with such belabored comics as Jimmy Walker, Louie Anderson and Jeff Foxworthy. January 18, 2008

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