The Spy Who Dumped Me Review

R: Violence, Language Throughout, Some Crude Sexual Material and Graphic NudityLionsgate, Imagine Entertainment1 Hr and 56 MinutesDir: Susanna Fogel | Writers: David Iserson, Susanna FogelCast: Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Justin Theroux, Sam Heughan, Gillian Anderson, Hasan Minhaj, Ivanna SakhnoR-rated action comedies are very hit or miss nowadays. There has been an influx of these movies and they’ve become a yearly tradition. 2015 brought us “Spy” and “American Ultra”, 2016 brought us “The Brothers Grimsby”, and 2017 gave us “The Hitman's Bodyguard”. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller raised the bar with the "Jump Street” films and then Paul Feig elevated it with “Spy”, which is still my favorite R-rated spy comedy to date. Every R-rated action comedy that followed “Spy” feels like an imitator, especially “The Spy Who Dumped Me”.  
Audrey (Mila Kunis) and Morgan (Kate McKinnon), two thirty-year-old best friends in Los Angeles, are thrust unexpectedly into an international conspiracy when Audrey's ex-boyfriend shows up at their apartment with a team of deadly assassins on his trail. Surprising even themselves, the duo jump into action, on the run throughout Europe from assassins and a suspicious-but-charming British agent, as they hatch a plan to save the world.THE GOODThe film has its moments comedy-wise. Unlike other R-rated action comedies, this doesn’t only rely on raunchy jokes. The movie may bear an R rating, but that’s credited mostly towards the violence as opposed to the comedy. There are some raunchy jokes, but it’s not on an Amy Schumer level. Some of the raunchy jokes have a funny punchline to them and thankfully they’re not prominent. While the comedy is hit or miss, the action is incredible. The action choreography is surprisingly electrifying which makes a lot of the action sequences a ton of fun and unexpectedly intense.Technically speaking, “A Spy Who Dumped Me” provides more value in its production than I thought it would. Besides the violence and action being the best aspects of the movie, it also has moments of visual cleverness. The movie starts off strong where we’re thrown into Aubrey’s ex-boyfriend’s mission gone wrong in this European country where the color palette is dark and grey. Then, it cuts to Aubrey and Morgan in America where it’s colorful and vibrant. There is a shift in cinematography that sets the movie’s tone.THE BAD
Why must every spy comedy have a clever set up, but then proceed to follow the most generic and cliched action tropes? I was really enjoying how the story was constructing itself for the first 20 minutes. But once Morgan and Audrey leave New Jersey and head to Europe, the movie ultimately becomes the most generic spy comedy that every spy comedy synopsis follows. The laughs become very inconsistent and the story is very thin. You’ve seen this type of narrative plenty times before. I’ve seen this story with “Spy”, “ The Hitman's Bodyguard”, and shit, even “Cars 2”. The only thing “The Spy Who Dumped Me” does that makes it stand out amongst the rest is the violence. Violence-wise it works on the same page as “Deadpool” where people will get offed in the most gruesome and outrageous ways and the film doesn’t give two shits about it. The way people die in this is shocking and not in a funny way, but in a jaw-dropping way. Most of the story elements are predictable, but some of the payoff is extravagant, especially when it’s violent. When people get murdered, you're left going--
 If you look at this movie from an action flick standpoint, it’s kickass. As a comedy it’s very mediocre. It’s excessively imbalanced to where it never comes across as a decent action comedy; it’s either one or the other. Put this on a scale and the action is much heavier than the comedy.Despite a lot of buddy action comedies failing in story (and often times the comedy itself) they succeed when it comes to the two leads having a great onscreen chemistry. The bond between two leads can sometimes overshadow a movie’s flaws and enhance the entertainment value. I hated “The Brothers Grimsby” but Sacha Baron Cohen and Mark Strong had a great dynamic and that was the thin silver lining.
For a movie that’s supposed to be a buddy feature, Kate McKinnon and Mila Kunis barely have any  chemistry. Their comedy styles are significantly different where McKinnon is more physical and expressive and Kunis is verbal and can do various deliveries, mostly sarcastic and deadpan. Their styles don’t mesh well together, which results in them looking lost and playing their standard character types. Their interactions with each other rarely seem organic because they’re still playing familiar characters we already know them as. McKinnon’s character (Morgan) is pretty much a variation of McKinnon’s characters from SNL; Kunis’ Audrey is pretty much Jackie from “That 70s Show”. Kunis and McKinnon are hilarious comedic actresses, but they don’t have the comedic chemistry to carry the feature, for it seems that they’re just battling each other to mug at the screen. Because of their dynamic not being fully convincing, a lot of the supposed highlighted scenes of comedy fall flat.Also To Hollywood: Stop making Kate McKinnon play Kate McKinnon from SNL! I’m seeing it with every role she takes and it hurts to see her talents be this limited. You're holding her back by having her perform the shtick she’s known for on SNL. McKinnon is able to create various, unique characters with their own distinct personalities that work for the 5-8 minute time frame within each sketch on SNL. Now, when you translate that to an almost two-hour-long movie where she has to amp up the quirkiness and weirdness, it comes across as annoying. Even Justin Theroux’s character says to Morgan “You’re a little much.” And she is. What’s worse is that sometimes the material for her comedy isn’t written so she has to result to ad libbing. It happens in nearly every movie she’s in. She managed to be the saving grace of some movies, such as “Ghostbusters” and “Rough Night”, but her screen time was limited. This movie does not provide a serviceable showcase of McKinnon’s range and it ultimately holds her back.
Even towards the third act Morgan just becomes extremely frustrating to where she jeopardizes the mission because of her own personal desires. The entire world is at stake, but Morgan wants to do trapeze acts with Cirque Du Soleil and is willing to achieve that personal dream no matter what. What makes it worse is that the scene before the climax kicks off with Morgan expressing how not many people like her outside of Audrey and her parents because of her annoying personality. There is no development to her character, for she returns to being herself literally right after she expresses how much she wants to change.They share fun moments together whenever McKinnon is not going over the top or has to friggin AD LIB ALL THE TIME. Mila Kunis is mostly carrying the movie for her character has a decently written arc where the film centers on Audrey finding her independence. It’s a nice message the film tries to convey, even though IT TOOK 2 FRIGGIN' HOURS TO GET THERE. Plus, Paul Feig did it better with “Spy”.LAST STATEMENTAs it lacks the needed chemistry from the leads while the narrative follows the tropes of every generic spy comedy flick, “The Spy Who Dumped Me” is a mediocre comedy that only offers a surprising amount of bloody violence.Rating: 2/5 | 46%Super Scene: Euro car chase