The Spy Who Dumped Me – Film Review

After a string of films that criminally underused her talents, The Spy Who Dumped Me is the movie that finally offers Kate McKinnon the very-nearly-lead role she deserves. While ostensibly the support to Mila Kunis’ jilted spy romancer, it’s Mckinnon’s haywire charm and irrepressible off-beat persona that keeps the fizz in this flabby and flawed action comedy, swiftly forming a fiercely enjoyable double act with her co-star as accidental spies who stumble into an international race to obtain a hoary Macguffin.

Initially McKinnnon’s Morgan fills the expected ‘quirky best-friend’ role to Kunis’ more conventional Audrey, who feels crushed after being heartlessly dumped via text by her awol boyfriend. But once Justin Theroux’s charmless Drew is revealed to be a CIA agent on the run and the two friends are pushed into completing his high-stakes, Euro-trotting mission, McKinnon breaks free of this shell. Unleashing all of her firecracker energy, she bamboozles french students into letting her steal their phone, poses as a male cockney limo driver to kidnap a pair of German dignitaries and grapples with a grinning assassin on a trapeze. Her off-kilter high-jinks play superbly alongside Kunis’ burgeoning badass, who coolly handles the shootouts, knife fights and car chases solidly staged by director and co-writer Susanna Fogel.

Kunis and McKinnon are a joy together, fully convincing as long-term friends who know each other deeply, with Fogel’s knack for drawing warm and witty female friendships on full display. So strong is their chemistry that they’re able to lift the flat jokes and uneven pacing that dog Fogel and David Iserson’s over-cooked script. There’s a repetitive quality to much of the action and gags, the use of overly graphic violence jars against the movie’s comedic tone, and the plot is so twisty and confusingly overwrought that it runs out of steam long before the credits roll.

But even as the final act erupts into a chaotic, loopy mess of shifting alliances and double crosses, it’s Kunis’ slick charm and, more so, McKinnon’s alarming zeal for adventure that keeps us along for the ride. And with a mid-credits sting leaving things open for a potential sequel, as long as McKinnon is on board, we will be too.

Runtime: 117 mins (approx.)
Director: Susanna Fogel
Screenwriters: Susanna Fogel, David Iserson
Stars: Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Justin Theroux, Sam Heughan

Ant-Man and the Wasp – Film Review

You can see why Marvel scheduled Ant-Man and the Wasp as their first release post-Infinity War. After the gut-wrenching earthquake caused by Thanos’ mighty finger snap, a return to the breezy, low-stakes world of Marvel’s tiniest superhero feels like a delightful distraction. But while the rest of the MCU has significantly raised its game of late, delivering more ambitious, thematically muscular stories that stretch the boundaries of the genre, Ant-Man continues to offer the same-old small scale thrills that – though giddying and playfully entertaining – feel like lesser work in this new era of ground-breaking achievements.

At least Peyton Reed’s team of writers are kind enough to suggest a reason for why Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) might’ve been left of the Avengers’ guest list. Having breached the Sokovia Accords with his role in Civil War’s airport rumble, Scott has spent the past two years under house arrest. While that provides plenty of time to build elaborate cardboard playhouses and perfect his close-up magic tricks, it proves more of a challenge when trying to raise a child and kick-start a security business (brilliantly named X-Con).

Meanwhile, Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) have gone off the grid, forming a renegade father-daughter team dedicated to rescuing Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the trippy Quantum Realm using a complicated thingumyjig called a Quantum Tunnel. But when their attempts to steal a crucial piece of tech from Walton Goggins’ low-level arms dealer throws them into the path of dangerously elusive new villain the Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), the duo reluctantly turn to their old friend for help.

While the plot effectively sets the stage for a light, bright comedy caper, it barely moves events on from the first film… and in some cases takes a backwards step. Scott continues to struggle to be a responsible parent and earn an honest living after a stint in prison. Hope and Hank are still consumed by the loss of their mother/wife decades earlier, while their relationship with Scott is effectively back to square one after the latter’s brush with the law forced them to go on the run. Even the villain is barely distinguishable from Corey Stoll’s one-note Yellowjacket – another baddie-with-a-grudge who wants to steal a piece of Hank’s tech for her own nefarious schemes.

The Ghost particularly feels like a wasted opportunity. A former SHEILD assassin whose ability to phase through objects is slowly killing her, she’s a rich, intriguing presence, beautifully played by John-Kamen. Yet Reed and co only skim the surface of her story, diluting the emotional force of her actions. It’s indicative of a film that all too often swerves the more complex, surprising avenues in favour of continuing down a road it’s already travelled.

That being said, there’s still plenty of fun to be had when the story gets going. The banter between the central trio fizzes with tension, with Scott’s impish charm grating against Hank’s surly attitude and Hope’s single-mindedness, while the action offers inventive use of growing and shrinking, from getaway cars the size of Hotwheels to skyscraper suitcases and colossal pez dispensers. And this time it’s Hope who gets to do most of the butt-kicking, snappily taking down a bunch of goons in a restaurant kitchen and zipping in and out of cars during a tautly executed chase over the hills of San Francisco.

Make no mistake, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a light-hearted, easy-going diversion. But with the MCU growing ever larger and expanding its horizons further, the miniature thrills on offer here feel comparatively trivial and inconsequential… like ants on your ceiling or a wasp buzzing around your head.

Runtime: 118 mins (approx.)
Director: Peyton Reed
Screenwriters: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer