The summer action comedy is a yearly staple that, whether audiences like it or not, comes around to offer a unique view of the explosive action movies we are used to. The Spy Who Dumped Me intends to add to this genre by offering a light, fun movie that aims to please, but it unfortunately losses steam before it can do anything interesting or memorable.
The movie centers around Audrey (Mila Kunis) and Morgan (Kate McKinnon), two best friends who become entangled in a web of espionage, gun fights, and car chases after Audrey’s boyfriend, Drew (Justin Theroux), suddenly dumps her via text. The main thrust of the plot is that after Audrey and Morgan discover an item of interest being pursued by multiple intelligence and a terrorist organization, they must work to make sure it gets back in the right hands. This carries the action through the whole movie—which is fine up until the movie runs into a wall, runs out of energy and then has nowhere to go.
The main issue with The Spy Who Dumped Me is that the movie is far too long and would be a better experience if it was thirty minutes shorter. Because the plot is so simple it can hardly afford to be a nearly two-hour long movie. It doesn’t offer much in the way of surprises, so by the end, both the action scenes and the comedy have run their course.
Kunis and McKinnon steal the show, with McKinnon offering the wackier bits throughout the movie. Their chemistry is great and is the highlight of the movie. I found myself enjoying their timing and moments together, but again, after 90 minutes, there’s nothing new the movie has to offer. One of the main issues is that the movie tries to straddle the line between an action movie and a comedy, but never truly nails either of them. Too often, it leans into twists and plot points that are either incredibly obvious or unexpected but leaves no explanation for how events could have even happened. This makes the action and story points suffer because it becomes uninteresting and confusing, which then leaves no more room for comedy.
The Spy Who Dumped Me does offer high spots that are enjoyable for the first part of the movie, but too often, we revisit characters unnecessarily, and ultimately have no reason to be invested in anyone but the two main characters. As good as Kunis and McKinnon are, it’s surprising we as an audience don’t get to see more of their interactions outside of running through bullet storms and being involved in car chases. These moments are great the first time, but unfortunately the action beats get repetitive and stale. Also, by focusing more on them as friends this might have offered a better alternative than spoiler turning them into unbelievable super spies. Regarding their friendship the movie goes 50% of the way to doing something interesting but then falls flat before anything good comes of it.
Audiences can expect a decent experience from The Spy Who Dumped Me, if you are a fan of Mila Kunis and/or Kate McKinnon, then this is a fun feature to see them in; they do have really good interactions. Besides, the movie has halfway decent action scenes, with good comedy bits in the first half. If you’ve seen any spy movie in the past five years, then you have seen most of the action and plot points in this movie.
Rating: 5/10
