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Dave Bautista

My Spy: Mission Accomplished

March 13, 2020 by Johnathan Stowe 1 Comment

MY SPY

Since the Spy Kids films, the wave of live action, family-friendly spy movies seems to have died out over the past few years. However, the release of My Spy looks to bring that era of family adventures that focus on friendship, comedy, and the benefits of family back to theaters. But does My Spy accomplish or fail their mission? 

My Spy tells the story of JJ (Dave Bautista), a former member of military Special Forces that’s now working as a CIA Spy Agent. He has all the necessary skills that a spy could want and his co-workers love his work in the field. But, he lacks stealth and will only work alone. When he botches a mission, his boss Kim (Ken Jeong) takes him out of the field and forces both he and another co-worker, Bobbi (Kristen Schaal), to watch over a family consisting of nine-year-old Sophie (Chloe Coleman) and her mother, Kate (Parisa Fitz-Henley). Having moved from Paris to Chicago to start a new life, Kate struggles to find time for Sophie as her work has her working extended hours. Sophie is the typical new girl at school, trying to make friends but instead bullied by other girls. While JJ and Bobbi are continuing their surveillance, Sophie discovers that she is being watched and tracks the spies to another apartment room. Once discovered, Sophie offers a deal to JJ that, if he teaches her how to be a spy, she will keep their secret. Begrudgingly, JJ accepts and this starts their adventure together.  

Dave Bautista stars in MY SPY.

As the relationship between JJ and Sophie builds, they begin to share their personal struggles with one another and help each other out. There’s a solid chemistry between Bautista and Coleman that helps the audience to really feel the emotional connection between them. Set between Toronto and Chicago, the film’s comedy is solid and never feels forced. (In fact, as someone from Toronto, I felt the film also was  a great spotlight for the city as it featured iconic local settings like Nathan Phillips Square and Forest Hill.) 

My Spy speaks to the paralyzing power of fear, especially the fear of the people you love getting hurt. This idea was best shown through the character of JJ, who struggles with fear to the point that he feels as though he must keep to himself, affecting his social and love life. Though, as his character learns how to live without fear, his life begins to change as he becomes more open to relationships of all types. 

MY SPY

Similarly, My Spy also addresses the damage that comes through bullying. Because she was from out of town, Sophie experiences the pain of being bullied by her peers from all sides. (This includes a poignant scene when she brings in JJ for ‘take your parent’ to work’ day) Interestingly, My Spy focuses on the fact that much bullying stems from those who choose to remain inclusive, rather than exclusive. While Sophie hopes to fit in, the girls who bully her the most refuse to include her as they’re focused on themselves and, potentially, others those who fit their mould. Bullying remains an important issue that today’s youth should look at when trying to make new friends and My Spy handles the topic well. 

Overall, My Spy is worth a watch! The comedy is enjoyable, the plot works (and, again, the film gets points for its portrayal of Toronto.) If you are looking for a movie that has action, comedy and appropriate for the family, check out My Spy. In my books, it has accomplished its mission. 

MY SPY

My Spy lands in theatres in Canada on Friday, March 13th, 2020.

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Chloe Coleman, Dave Bautista, Ken Jeong, Kristen Schaal, My Spy, Parisa Fitz-Henley

Master Z: IP Man Legacy – Punches with Purpose

July 23, 2019 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Written by Jason Thai

Master Z: IP Man Legacy follows the story of Cheung Tin Chi (Max Zhang), a fighter who lost to the IP Man in the previous film. Working as a mercenary for hire, Cheung decides that he no longer wants to live a life of crime or use his martial art gifts for evil and money. Now, Cheung wants to give that all up for a humble life of owning his own small grocery store business and living with his young son. Unfortunately, after bumping heads with the local gang, Cheung Tin Chi must come out of retirement to fight once again to defend his new life and clean up the streets of crime, drugs, and corruption.

After his loss to the IP Man, Tin Chi has become depressed and bored with martial arts. Seeing no purpose in fighting anymore, Tin Chi’s defeat causes him to lose his sense of self and his confidence. Suddenly, he has lost his sense of purpose to be the best fighter and challenge others (or use the martial arts at all). Although Tin Chi must fight once again but he doesn’t use his signature Wing Chun style. However, throughout the film, Tin Chi sees the pain in his neighbourhood caused by the local gang, drugs, and corruption and he steps in to defend others using his martial arts. Even though he still wants a life of peace, he is forced to fight once again, helping people and his neighbourhood to be free of criminal activities. By helping others, he also rediscovers his sense of purpose and identity as well.

This latest chapter of the Ip Man saga is quite easy to follow, and the fight scenes were choreographed very well. Every fight scene was long enough to be satisfying and felt stylized and intriguing. Characters made good use of the nearby items and the dynamic use of the set created new environments for the action. Though simple, thee story was a well-written story of redemption, with a solid supporting cast who added comic-relief and quirkiness to contrast Tin Chi in his journey. Each character added genuine personality to the community in which Tin Chi was living, giving the audience ample opportunity to empathize with them.

Overall, Master Z: Ip Man Legacy is a great film. Despite its simple story, the film features a great cast, and amazing fighting scenes that really showcase the Ip Man stylized action that keeps the people coming back for more.

Master Z: IP Man Legacy is available now on demand.

Filed Under: DVD, Film Tagged With: Dave Bautista, Ip Man, Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, Max Zhang

3.19 Defending the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

May 15, 2017 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

https://screenfish.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/3.19-Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Vol.-2.mp3

This week, Steve and comic guru Arnaldo Reyes celebrate their 2nd podcast anniversary to defend GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2. The latest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe has wild colours and an awesome soundtrack but it also has a lot of heart–and even seems to want to talk about god (small ‘g’, of course).

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.19 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Thanks Arnaldo for coming on the show!

 

 

All music from the soundtrack is copyrighted by Marvel Music, Inc.

Theme song is ‘Month 2 Month/Love St.’ by Connections.

Filed Under: Podcast, Reviews Tagged With: Baby Groot, Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Drax, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, James Gunn, Marvel, Marvel Studios, MCU, Rocket, Star Lord, Yondu

Heist: The Art of Misdirection

December 22, 2015 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

heist

Robert De Niro. Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Kate Bosworth. Morris Chestnut. Gina Carano. Dave Bautista.

The cast list reads like a who’s who of good-but-not-great films that have littered the landscape of early spring and late summer. All of them have been in something spectacular, but bringing them all together echoes with the late-breaking career of Morgan Freeman as the set-up man. Heist (or Bus 657) is that kind of film about a blackjack dealing-father who needs the perfect heist to pay for his daughter’s expensive, non-insurance-covered operation.

Luke Vaughn (Morgan) knows he shouldn’t steal from “The Pope” (De Niro) but when heavy Cox (Bautista, sans makeup) lures him into robbing Pope’s casino and righthand man Derrick Prince (Chestnut), he is all in. Their robbery goes south (duh!) and they end up careening around on a bus driven by Bernie (D.B. Sweeney) with a setup straight out of Speed. However, local officer Kris Bajos (Carano) is in hot pursuit, and is soon joined by a suave Marconi (Mark-Paul Gosselaar). Vaughn and Cox (obviously) disagree on how to proceed, and the plot thickens aboard the bus.

All of this is pretty much what you would expect, like a Speedy Ocean’s Eleven without the humor. We’re warned several times that things are not what they seem but unfortunately, they seem so obvious that the ‘sleight of hand’ was telegraphed well before the big reveal. I don’t know if this is the result of a poor script, or poor direction, but the crew deserved better.

And then there’s the human interest level, as if the kid in the hospital bed motif wasn’t enough: we’re supposed to believe that The Pope really, really badly wishes he had made better life decisions and he wants to go straight. Or at least he wants a shot at conning his completely empathetic daughter (Kate Bosworth) into believing he can go straight, which changes the whole dynamic of the film. I am all for redemptive story arcs, and Bosworth nails the paltry five minutes that she’s given here, but the transition is so jarring that I thought I must’ve missed something. (I had not.)

Fortunately, each piece by each actor is pretty solid. Bautista has my attention after Guardians of the Galaxy and Spectre; I’m already a fan of Bosworth and Morgan. But the real misdirection seems to be in thinking that there was going to be an emotional payoff for the audience that just wasn’t there. I’m disappointed, really.

The trailer had me fooled.

Filed Under: DVD, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Dave Bautista, Gina Carano, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kate Bosworth, Morris Chestnut, Robert De Niro

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