The Spy Who Dumped Me: Review

Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon have both had bad breaks in recent years, with Kunis appearing in the critically panned Jupiter Ascending and A Bad Mom's Christmas, as well as McKinnnon starring in the commercial flopping Ghostbusters re-boot. Despite hitting hard times the two actresses join forces in the action comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me. After learning that her boyfriend was a secret agent, Aubrey (Kunis) and her best friend Morgan (McKinnon) unwittingly stumble into a deadly plot that threatens the entire world.    

Playing like a parody of previously spoofed spy flicks, The Spy Who Dumped Me is painfully unfunny as it is un-resourceful. Spy films are growing in popularity once again, with the release of Mission: Impossible - Fallout this summer, along with various other comedic takes on the world of secret agents to counter the more serious stuff. The problem with The Spy Who Dumped Me, however, is that there are not only better spy films out there but also better parodies than this awkward romp. 

Whereas Kingsman: The Secret Service and Spy found new, inventive ways to mimic this action sub-genre, The Spy Who Dumped Me scrapes the very bottom of the barrel. Susanne Fogel and David Iserson's script is so extraordinarily lazy that practically every single joke misfires - whether it be slapstick, toilet humour or pop culture references - The Spy Who Dumped Me doesn't lift a finger when it comes to original joke telling. As a slight counterbalance, though she may be an acquired taste, McKinnon does all the comic heavy lifting - making even the worst moments just slightly more bearable. 

Crucially you're so un-engaged by the film's premise you forget that it's supposed to be an action comedy. If The Spy Who Dumped Me spent more time and money on a better script and less on generic action sequences it might be an entirely different story. Moreover, the various different European locations make no impact on the film whatsoever - such a wasted opportunity - it could've been shot against a brick wall and be just as uninteresting as it already is. 

Ultimately there are very little words that can summarise The Spy Who Dumped Me. Kunis and McKinnon have great chemistry together even if there is almost nothing to their characters. Boasting one of the worst scripts of the entire year, The Spy Who Dumped Me is incompetent, cringeworthy and entirely un-amusing. There is only one spy film you need to see this summer and it's light years away from this Austin Powers apology.

The Spy Who Dumped Me:

Awful