Spy: Movie Review 1

Spy spoofs can be overly humorous or overly simplified. At the core of the spy genre as defined by Ian Fleming or Dan Brown even (Although Dan Brown's novels are not classic espionage novels) is a contradiction. You have a Puritan hero (James Bond, Robert Langdon) who is also an imperialistical womanizer. I don't know why any other culture in the world would want the culture of Britain or the United States, but this is the assumption.

Austin Power replaces the Puritanical ethic with 60's groove. Austin is cool, overly horny, and intensely accepting. There is a kind of semi-humorous laughter that comes from Austin that betrays a kind of existential nervousness. After all, Austin is Doctor Evil is Mini-me and is in fact, everyman. Why is he fighting evil when he is not fighting himself. He can't help himself to anything. He is a kind of pansexual creature.

In Spy, you have the classic spy figure (Jude Law). They seemed to have picked the names of spies from Porno Stars, DayTime TV shows, and atavars on online chat lines. Mise En Scene is skipped altogether for a pseudo-James Bond number. Guns and Sex are the themes and it all comes together in a mirage of smoke and mirrors. Jude Law, in the opening scene, sneezes and murders the antagonist which effectively destroys the plot. Later we learn that the real antagonist is a female which curses like a ghetto girl and is overly concerned with fashion and has a fetish for drinks (perhaps her lack of spirituality *spirit* drink is the cause).