When the world’s greatest spy meets the woman of his dreams, he abandons his adventurous existence and settles into the security of suburbia.
“Spy Intervention” isn’t a James Bond movie but it begs the question, what if the world’s greatest spy gave up his thrillseeking lifestyle to marry the love of his life and settle down in American suburbia? Naturally, when you hear the word “spy,” for most people, the first thought in their minds is James Bond and with the latest Bond flick, “No Time To Die,” hitting theaters in April, it starts off with Bond having retired from MI-6 and living in Jamaica with the love of his life, Madeleine Swann. So how did it all start? “Spy Intervention” asks that question. Sort of.
Agent Corey Gage (Drew Van Acker) is the world’s best spy and is at the top of his game but while chasing a bad guy through a shopping mall, he accidentally knocks into Pam Grayson (Poppy Delevingne), a store rep for a small boutique. Immediately he falls for her and his work begins to suffer as a result. They see more of each other and then fall in love and Cory gives up his life of cloak-and-dagger and moves to the suburbs with Pam. Initially, everything is great, married life couldn’t be better but then he slowly realizes that suburban life really isn’t his calling.
When his old pal from the bureau, Smuts (Blake Anderson), offers him the opportunity to capture the bad guy he failed to apprehend in the beginning, and informs him that he is in town and that Corey wouldn’t have far to travel, he reluctantly agrees to go undercover, citing his failure for detaining him as his reason for not being able to fully enjoy suburban life. When he starts coming home late at night and gives Pam cover stories for his late-night engagements, she gradually begins to suspect something and while Corey is undercover at a luxurious hotel on the outskirts of town with a fellow spy, pretending to be married, Pam follows him one day and when she confronts him, the bad guy Corey has just managed to get close to, disappears in the commotion and everything is thrown into disarray but when they get home, the bad guy comes knocking on their front door and Corey must come up with a plan if he and Pam are to survive the night.
What makes “Spy Intervention” work is the chemistry between its two leads, Drew Van Acker and Poppy Delevingne. In order for us to care about them, we have to believe that they are truly in love together and that is why it succeeds. What doesn’t work so well, is the special effects, or lack thereof. Granted, this is a tale about a spy wanting to live a normal life but we also have to see the life he was leading and why he desires to leave it and in order to show that effectively, we have to witness him on a mission so that we can see how good he is but the gadgets he possesses, like a jetpack he uses after jumping out of a plane, are second-rate, at best, and it’s plainly obvious that this movie’s strong points are not impressive CGI. Literally, any and all scenes that inhabit any form of visual effects, are poorly produced.
The film itself also changes aspect ratio throughout. One moment we are watching it in widescreen (2.35:1) and then it suddenly changes to fullscreen aspect ratio (4:3), for no apparent reason. If it was to enhance what was transpiring onscreen that would make sense but it changes for no apparent explanation and as a result, makes for, at times, cumbersome viewing. The acting, for the most part, is fine but you will most certainly enjoy the onscreen chemistry shared between the film’s two stars, with Drew Van Acker exuding a debonair sophistication while Poppy Delevingne emanates tenaciousness and intestinal fortitude, even in the face of villainous henchmen. And that almost makes up for the rest of its shortcomings. Almost.
“Spy Intervention” explodes into theaters, on VOD and Digital February 14th
