I Spy

December 10, 2004

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 97 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Are there any old TV shows left that haven’t been bought up by the studios yet? It would not be a shock to see “My Mother the Car” on the big screen at this point. But this time, it is “I Spy” that finds itself in our local theaters.

I Spy

To be honest, I have never seen a complete episode of the TV series. But as with most of the remakes, it really doesn’t matter. It is very much a standalone effort. In this version we have Owen Wilson playing Alexander Scott which is the role played by Bill Cosby in the TV series. Meanwhile Eddie Murphy has Robert Culp’s role as Kelly Robinson. Oh, and one more little minor difference. Instead of being a white tennis pro, Robinson is now a black trash talking professional boxer.

The plot is typical secret agent fare. A top secret military plane is stolen, and the only way the secret agent can get it back is to team up undercover with the boxer. The safety of the world is of course hanging in the balance. Not only does this movie try to be the prototypical spy movie, it also takes a shot at being an action film, comedy and buddy movie. As you might guess the result is that it does a little bit of all of the above without doing any one aspect extremely well.

The saving grace of I Spy is that there are some genuinely funny moments. This is especially true when Kelly Robinson is talking trash. Although not quite worth of saying this is a return to form for Eddie Murphy, this is definitely a performance that is closer to the mid-late 1980’s version of Murphy that made him a star. We can respect the kinder gentler roles that he has done lately, but this is the type of fast talking arrogant character that we really enjoy seeing him play.

Unfortunately there are some agonizingly slow moments in the film inbetween the laughs. And some of the jokes fall so flat that you almost want to look away from the screen. If you’re in the mood for action and comedy, I Spy is not a bad choice, but don’t go out of your way to see this on the big screen.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 3 Stars, Comedy, Eddie Murphy, Famke Janssen, Malcolm McDowell, Mike Dopud, Owen Wilson, PG-13, Theatrical