My Spy: The Eternal City
Kiddie spy sequel is rather feeble.
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I hadn’t seen 2020’s “My Spy” until preparing to review its sequel “My Spy: The Eternal City” (now streaming on Prime Video) – this, despite really digging its star Dave Bautista (my favorite WWE wrestler-turned-actor and I say this as someone who also likes Dwayne Johnson and John Cena). I found the first entry to be a fun and funny spin on “Kindergarten Cop.” Unfortunately, its follow-up is more of a high school flop.
JJ (Bautista) is a CIA operative who has moved away from field work in order to be a more attentive husband to Kate (Lara Babalola filling in for Parisa Fitz-Henley and totally relegated to the sidelines) and stepfather to Sophie (talented child actress Sophie Coleman) much to the chagrin of his thrill-seeking partner Bobbi (Kristen Schaal).
JJ has trained Sophie in hand-to-hand combat and spycraft over the years – which once excited her – but her interests have switched to boys namely Ryan (Billy Barratt) and choir now that she’s a teenager. When Sophie’s school gets the opportunity to travel to Italy and perform, JJ volunteers to chaperone hoping it’ll bring the two of them closer once more. Unfortunately, chaperoning is not all it’s cracked up to be and JJ must answer to the overbearing Vice Principal Nancy (Anna Faris).
Also tagging along for the trip is Sophie’s best friend Collin (Taeho K), son of CIA head honcho David Kim (Ken Jeong), who gets nabbed by a mercenary named Crane (Flula Borg). It’s now up to JJ and Sophie to save Collin and figure out the identity of Crane’s mysterious employer.
“My Spy: The Eternal City” comes from the same filmmaking team as its predecessor writer/producer/director Peter Segal (credited as Pete here … how casual!) and screenwriter/executive producer brothers Erich and Jon Hoeber. Given that all of the creative primaries have returned, it’s quite shocking how vast the qualitative disparity between the two productions is. The first flick had decent action and lots of humor and heart – elements that are sorely missing this time out. These folks even managed to waste the very funny and talented Craig Robinson who turns up as Connelly, another CIA agent.
Part of what made “My Spy” sing was the interplay between Bautista and Coleman’s characters. They’re both still good here, but his JJ is definitely less badass and her Sophie is decidedly bitchier. We get to the heart of the matter in the third act, but it’s too little too late.
My advice to y’all is this – skip this assignment and revisit or watch for the first time the original “My Spy,” which is still available on Prime.