5 Secrets To Spy’s Success

5) Remember: You’re A Comedy

Spy feels like a complete, real movie because it treats itself like one. It toys with spy movie conventions, but it’s not a parody or tongue-in-cheek satire. It has a plot, it has characters, and those characters change thanks to that plot. But the film never forgets that the best way it can get you to invest in its story is by making sure you laugh the whole way through. Too often, comedic genre spins get so caught up in the imitation that they forget to actually be funny.

Take last year’s Let’s Be Cops for instance, an ostensible comedy that tried to be to cop movies what Spy is to espionage. In addition to being just painfully uninspired for its first two thirds, Let’s Be Cops sealed its misguided fate when deciding to spend its last act actually being the kind of movie it had heretofore been mocking. Spy risks falling into the same trap with its own last act, once the plot gets tangled in the expected twists and betrayals of the genre, and commits to a setpiece crescendo.

But because Spy has laid a strong foundation beforehand, and continues to poke fun at the craziness on screen as it climaxes, the finale is not only satisfying, but works within its budgetary limitations.

Yes, the helicopter chase looks unconvincing, but because the setpiece works on a comedic level first and foremost, your enjoyment of the experience isn’t diminished. Spy’s ability to identify the real appeal of espionage movies is the reason its can be both faithful and funny. Is it the intricate double-dealing and spectacle that matters to you by the end of a spy movie, or is it more important that you’ve had an entertaining ride with a cast of memorable characters? Spy achieves the latter expertly, which is why it should be seen as a role model for not just future comedies, but spy movies too.