MY SPY: THE ETERNAL CITY

(director/writer: Peter Segal; screenwriter: Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber; cinematographer: Larry Blanford; editor: Jason Gorson; music: Sean Segal; cast: Dave Bautista (JJ),  Chloe Coleman (Sophie), Kristen Schaal (Bobbi), Flula Borg (Crane), Anna Faris (Nancy), Ken Jeong (David Kim), Taeho K (Colin), Billy Barratt (Ryan), Craig Robinson (Connelly), Noah Danby (Todd), Devere Rogers (Carlos), Pariza Fitz-Henly (Kate), Nicola Correia-Damude (Christina); Runtime: 111; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producers: Peter Segal, Chris Bender, Jake Weiner, Robert Simmonds, Gigi Pritzker, Dave Bautista, Jonathan Meisner; Amazon MGM Studios; 2024)

“Lacks inspiration.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Peter Segal (“My Spy”/”The Longest Yard”) directs and co-writes the teen comedy with Jon and Erich Hoeber. It’s a sequel to the 2020 film My Spy.

Sophie (Chloe Coleman) is a teen. She is upset with her overprotective stepdad guardian, CIA operative JJ (Dave Bautista, former pro wrestler). David Kim (Ken Jeong) is JJ’s tiresome CIA boss. Bobbi (Kristen Schaal) is JJ’s tech support member of his CIA team.

JJ chaperone’s Sophie when her high school choir takes a trip to Rome, Florence and Venice, and her mom is in Africa with Doctors Without Borders.

In Rome, a terrorist group is attempting to nuke the Vatican, with one of the bad guys (Flula Borg) using the info he stole from the Russians when searching for hidden nukes left over from the cold war.

Nancy (Anna Faris) is the droll school assistant principal who calls out JJ for poorly supervising Sophie. She has a crush on Ryan (Billy Barrat) and nerdy Colin Kim (Taejo K) has a crush on her. The nerd thinks his dad David is a pediatric nurse, not realizing he’s a CIA boss.

That’s about the gist of this sub-standard YA story, that lacks inspiration and doesn’t have enough comedy to warrant sitting through such dreck. The set piece car chase and the bit about the broken off penis piece from a statue thrown at a bad guy might be its best bits. 

REVIEWED ON 7/31/2024  GRADE: C +
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