*** Official "I SPY" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Art Martinez]

Hey all, I got to see a sneak screening of "I Spy" and I thought I would share my thoughts on the movie.

First off let me say that I have never seen the original show so can not compare the the movie to the show, but my buddy that went to the screening with me said the movie was quite different. He told me that in the show Culp and Cosby were not as "bumbling" as Owen and Eddie were in the movie. That aside, I thought that the movie was quite funny.

The plot in the movie is pretty far fetched. For those that have not seen previews: A secret spy plane is stolen. Wilson is a spy who is given the mission to recover the plane. The person responsible for stealing the plane (played by Malcolm McDowell) is a big boxing fan. Enter Murphy, a pro boxer who has a championship fight in the city where the stolen plane is hidden.

I don't think that the weak plot really hurts this movie, and what saves it, and made it a very enjoyable movie for me was the interaction between Eddie and Owen. The banter between these two guys had the audience, myself included, laughing through most of the movie! Eddie has not been this funny to me in quite some time. As a motor-mouth boxing champ he is on top of his game Eddie talks trash and cuts into people like only he knows how to do, and he has not done it this well since "Beverly Hills Cop", and "48 Hours". Wilson is a spy who is trying to be on top of his game to impress Famke Janssen. What can I say about Wilson. I find the guy funny in anything he does. He plays off Eddie so well in this movie. Most of the time he is trying to get Eddie to work on the same page as himself, and the rest of the time he is totally at a loss with Eddie's attitude and bravado.

Famke and Malcolm have rather small rolls in the film, but they play them decently. Though it would have been nice to see a larger part for Malcolm.

As I said before, the plot of the movie is not that strong, but I don't think that it is necessarily a weakness in this movie. This movie is all about Owen, and Eddie and they come through in grand fashion.

On a scale of 1-10 I would give this movie a 7.

(Of course I'm also the person who owns a copy of "Tank Girl" and watches it once a week, so what the hell do I know?)

 

[Jack Briggs]

I have seen the original series, and not only were Culp and Cosby smooth and swave, the show was played straight. It had light moments, but they punctuated the witty seriousness of the spy theme.

So, as with just about all of Hollywood's reinterpretations of classic TV series, I have zero hope for this movie. It seems to be just another rehashing for an MTV-addled mindset. I am glad you enjoyed it, though.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I saw this one already, and could offer the following opinions:
1. The connection to the original series is tenuous at best. It's still a black guy/white guy spy pairing. Other than that, the title's the only connection.
2. I thought the movie was DAMN funny! Eddie's better here than he's been since Bowfinger, and he strikes a truly solid chemistry with Wilson.
3. The plot is virtually inconsequential, but not in an obnoxious way. It's your basic 'retrive the item' sort of spy story, but if you look at the movie as comedy first, you'll probably enjoy it.
Hey, I was surprised too!
(But then again, I did like Showtime too...)

 

[Chris]

Could this be Eddie Murphy's chance to do something not even John Travolta or others have accomplished: two of the biggest bombs in box office income in one year? Is I-Spy the next "Pluto Nash?"

This movie looks bad. Hell, it looks like Pluto Nash (doesn't help that the cast is basically the same, especially after the bang up chemistry they had in Pluto Nash)

Box Office Bet: Opening weekend: $16M. Total Box office: $29M.

 

[Nick Sievers]

I highly doubt we will see another Pluto Nash here. That had to be one of the biggest bombs in recent memory, I'm expecting to see a decent haul for "I Spy" while I haven't seen any trailers for it, I can see the chemistry between Owen Wilson and Murphy working. Speaking of which i'll be there opening day if Wilson is in a flick.
If my memory serves me right I think Scott Weinberg said it wasn't too bad. But I could be thinking of someone else around here. Correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Andre F]

(But then again, I did like Showtime too...)

Me too, maybe I'll have to check this one out!

 

[Malcolm R]

In Entertanment Weekly's fall movie preview, they quoted director Betty Thomas as saying the movie had little to do with the old TV series and she actually fought with the studio to change the title as she knew they'd get crap for calling it "I Spy" when it really had little relation to that property. But she said the studio had paid a lot of money for rights to the title and would not let her change it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "I Spy". Please, post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.
All HTF member film reviews of "I Spy" should be posted to the Official Review Thread.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Crawdaddy

 

[NickFoley]

It should have a decent $18+ Million dollar opening weekend.

 

[Allen Hirsch]

Very entertaining popcorn fare. Almost inconsequential plot, as others have noted, but good comedy/chemistry between Wilson and Murphy. I can't imagine this will bomb (as most of Murphy's recent efforts have).

MTV-movie-goers should be ecstatic - they blow up more stuff in this film than in almost any non-war, non-drug film I can think of.

There are several good running jokes used in the film, and I never tired of the banter between Murphy and Wilson.

More of Janssen would have been nice :wink:.

 

[Malcolm R]

I can't imagine this will bomb.

Well, weekend estimates will have this around $12-$14 million or so, meaning a total gross of $25M to $35M is probably likely (unless it has major legs, but there are no indications of such). And given it's underperformance, it'll likely be one of the titles cleared to make screen room for Harry Potter in 2 weeks.

Not a bomb of "Pluto Nash" proportions, but it has to be highly disappointing for the studio.