My Spy the Eternal City

My Spy the Eternal City is a playfully cheesy and delightfully familiar yet enjoyable watch, providing plenty of family-friendly action and humour to keep audiences entertained. Reminiscent of the early 2000 Spy Kids, and a sequel to 2020’s My Spy, the film doesn’t take itself too seriously, revelling in its cliche over-the-top spy tech, dramatic secret identity reveals, and suave and sophisticated villains.

JJ (Dave Bautista), a veteran CIA agent, reunites with his stepdaughter and protege Sophie (Chloe Coleman), switching his usual dangerous day-to-day for the more domesticated life of raising a daughter. Switching his spy specialisms for a knack for freshly baked goods, in an effort to bond with his stepdaughter, JJ volunteers to chaperone her school trip to Italy for a choir competition. Shipped off to Europe, the pair uncover a terrorist plot aimed at destroying the Vatican, with some hidden USSR nukes thrown in to raise the stakes.

Four years after the first movie, Sophie has now entered the phase every parent dreads – teenhood (cue dramatic “dun, dun, duuun”). It’s safe to say the typical teen popularity contest isn’t a concern for Sophie. What’s more uncool to teenagers these days, the fact that her dad is chaperoning the school choir trip or the fact that she’s part of the school choir in the first place (as a former choir member, this writer is placing her bet on the latter)? Though becoming a CIA agent is no longer her only priority, she has other considerations, like the huge crush she has on heartthrob Ryan (Billy Barrat), rocking the early Bieber side fringe. Excited to spend some quality time eating gelato with her full-time jock in the romance of Italy, Sophie has to take a detour to stop the bad guys from blowing up the Pope and unleashing nuclear war (and most importantly of all, ensure the choir competition can run smoothly).

We also see the return of Ken Jeong and Kristen Schaal as David and Bobbi. These come-backs can’t be described as “highly anticipated”, as the lack of character depth and development feels like a waste of two big Hollywood names. Jeong delivers some funny quips in his typical high-energy style, making it hard not to crack a smile; that man could tell a joke about a brick wall and it would still have the audience laughing. However, even this comedy felt underdeveloped and unnatural at times, forced into the script to tick a box. Similarly, Schaal also has her moments, but her character feels like another missed opportunity.

New editions to the lineup include Anna Farris as a strict and ruling school administrator, and Flula Borg, our typically cold, cunning and ruthless loyal henchman. It is clear that the cast have a genuine love for each other off-screen, with Bautista attending Coleman’s school play recital, and Jeong joining Coleman on safari when filming in South Africa. This is a bond that clearly comes across on-screen too. Although Bautista and Jeong struggle to move past their on-screen stereotypes, the comic duo still make quite the pair when acting alongside each other. Adding to this the fact that Schaal and Coleman balance each other well, and Faris and Borg being nice editions to this ensemble, it’s a shame the end result feels rather flat.

A (somewhat) action-packed kids spy movie, My Spy the Eternal City is light-hearted and comfortable, similar to its predecessor. Providing equal amounts of half-amusing one-liners, hero-villain tension and cohesive teamwork, with a few twists and turns thrown in, the film does enough to re-engage audiences after they momentarily lose track of the plot.

Olivia Gardener

My Spy the Eternal City is released on Prime Video on 18^th July 2024.

Watch the trailer for My Spy the Eternal City here: