My Spy The Eternal City is the not-so-eagerly anticipated sequel to My Spy. The original film, which teamed Dave Bautista as a CIA agent with Chloe Coleman as a precocious 9-year-old girl, worked perfectly fine within the action-hero-meets-kid formula. Schwarzenegger had Kindergarten Cop, Diesel had The Pacifier, The Rock had The Game Plan, Jackie Chan had The Spy Next Door, and Bautista now has My Spy. Most of these movies never got a sequel, and for good reason. However, director Peter Segal returns to make My Spy into a franchise with lackluster results.
This sequel brings back Bautista and Coleman as J.J. and Sophie, respectively. J.J. has settled into being Sophie’s stepdad, but Sophie is reaching a rebellious age in adolescence. She is changing and is more concerned with asking the boy she has a crush on to the dance. This is a good setup for a sequel, but the issue with My Spy The Eternal City is how it grapples with the serious action with the childish premise. The original movie had the same problem of being a PG-13 action film with a silly concept. However, this movie commits to the action genre and does not do the best job of it.
The opening act sends our characters on a school trip where J.J. will chaperone. It takes a while for the villain plot to tie into the main story, but once it does, we have our movie in motion. The premise feels like a less fun version of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Far from Home worked because it balanced the tone between fun and serious. My Spy The Eternal City does not work because the humor generally feels ill-timed. The sequences already lack tension, but once a joke gets thrown in, all the tension dissipates.
Since the first act feels like a Disney Channel coming-of-age adventure comedy, the transition to this action thriller plot feels strange. The screenplay from writers Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Segal intentionally increases the stakes of the first movie. Although it’s logical to make the stakes bigger in a sequel, it still feels like we’re watching a cheaper version of a better film, especially with how it weaves in its childish plot. Sections of the finale feel inspired by Mission: Impossible – Fallout, with the film’s desperate desire to have a giant nuclear plot that feels very out of place here.
Ken Jeong has a more prominent role in this movie. He was the desk jockey in the first film and now gets to be more involved in the action. Jeong has some fun comedic set pieces, with the film’s most outlandish being one he shared with Bautista and many CGI birds. His character has a son, Collin (Taeho K), who happens to be Sophie’s best friend (what are the odds of that?). Unfortunately, K’s performance can feel dull, lacking the fear and charm this character needs. There’s a scene where a character remarks of Collin, “he looks so scared,” and the first words in my mind were, “No, he doesn’t.”
The film casts actor/YouTuber Flula Borg as the villainous Crane, which is an interesting choice. He’s a serious villain, save for one scene where he rants about face ID. None of the villains in this movie are memorable. Their motivations are weak, and they all feel pretty generic. The film attempts to create a plot twist surrounding one of them, but it’s incredibly predictable. We have a lot of talented comedic actors in this movie, but it’s genuinely impressive how Segal can squander any of their comedic talents.
It’s particularly baffling because Segal has directed comedies like Tommy Boy, 50 First Dates, and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult. He’s built his career on comedy movies and does nothing with his comedic actors. Anna Faris, known for her brilliant work in the Scary Movie series, does not get a single laugh. Craig Robinson is one of the most reliably funny actors in movies and TV. This movie gives him one quick joke at the beginning and then makes him a disposable agent that any actor could have played. Even headliners Bautista and Coleman are giving less charismatic, more muted performances in this film.
My Spy The Eternal City is far from a total loss. There are a few practical stunts and at least one funny callback to the first film. But there’s a lot that needs to be fixed. It’s never funny or action-packed enough to be better than your average action-comedy movie. Kristen Schaal’s humor wasn’t funny in the previous film, nor is it funny here. Committing to the action thrills loses the heartwarming, feel-good nature that the first movie had. Even the green screen becomes painfully noticeable towards the end. Overall, this is not a movie worth rewatching or watching at all.
SCORE: 4/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 4 equates to “Poor.” The negatives outweigh the positive aspects making it a struggle to get through.
Disclosure: ComingSoon received a screener for our My Spy The Eternal City review.
