Last Updated on July 26, 2024 by
My Spy: The Eternal City is a 2024 Movie Directed by Peter Segal. The film stars Dave Bautista, Chloe Coleman, and Kristen Schaal and will be released on July 18, 2024.
My Spy was initially theatrically released but, like many movies, was shifted to streaming due to COVID lockdowns. The generation that grew up with gems like The Game Plan, The Pacifier, Daddio and The Spy Next Door may have been prone to sharing the Dave Bautista-led movie with his/her children or young relatives. Still, the former athlete/action star meets a precocious child actor formula was not embraced much in 2020. This was also the feeling about My Spy, and yet it got a sequel in My Spy the Eternal City, a film that doesn’t reach on so many levels.
The sequel features Bautista’s character, Agent JJ, who no longer investigates cases being stuck behind a desk. He is content coming home every night to Sophie (Dungeons & Dragons: Younger from Honor Among Thieves’ Chloe Coleman) and her mother, Kate (Lara Babalola). But this is not what Sophie thought about when she started interacting with JJ four years ago. She wanted him to teach her how to be a Secret Agent. Now, she wants to grow up to be a teenager and for JJ to go back to conducting research in the field.
With Kate being away, JJ has to hold the fort around the house and feels offended that Sophie still does not consider him a father figure. He is then instructed to babysit a class on an educational tour in Italy, where Sophie’s school’s choir has been chosen to perform in an event. It also means that Sophie will get to be around her crush, Ryan (Billy Barratt from Mary Poppins Returns), and her best friend, Collin (Taeho K), who is the son of JJ’s boss, David (Ken Jeong).
From there, the film retreats into humour and even action. In Italy, JJ and Sophie accidentally become entangled in a plot when David’s son is kidnapped by a German assassin, Crane (Flula Borg), and a wild terrorist with overdone mascara (Anna Faris). Thus, JJ has to lure his superior and the latter’s former partner, Bobbi (voiced by Kristen Schaal), into coming to his aid to save Collin and the world from the menace.
The issue with Segal’s follow-up and the film’s screenplay by Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber, the latter of whom tackled the first script, is that Baby Geniuses has little of the endearing charm in a gigantic monster looking for his purpose in life beyond leaving a path of vanquished villains. We no longer have the Kindergarten Cop homage that we can make kids useful in changing their lives. Yes, Sophie is now a teenage girl; as for any teenage girl, rebellion runs in her veins.
Again, there’s some lame humour with what appears to be killer parakeets, but that’s a laugh that bursts at the seams. Performances like that of Faris and Craig Robinson in the film are stereotyped. They are the stereotyped cardboard cutouts you have been watching running around in circles for the nth time. The only enjoyment can be derived from the performance of Schaal, who arrives with her typical redundant nonsense. Mainly, it relates to which of them interacts with JJ more, especially when Sophie and the author quarrel.
However, where the original had the decency to know its niche, My Spy, the Eternal City, tries to set slightly higher action ambitions but loses the thoughtful feel and humour that made the first one likeable (My Spy 2020). The sequel’s storyline is clichéd and trivial; the plot is unoriginal and highly foreseeable. Regarding action-comedy with this star, Dave Bautista, it gets the disguise of laughs and thrills passably well.
My Spy: The Eternal City 2024 Parents Guide Age Rating
My Spy: The Eternal City is Rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for violence/action, some strong language, suggestive references, teen drinking, and a nude sculpture.
Violence and Gore: The movie has fight scenes that are characteristic of spy movies. The movie contains scenes with fights and aggressive actions like hand-to-hand fighting, chasing, and using firearms. Although very striking, such scenes are not especially violent and elaborate. An important character is kidnapped; some children may get scared, but the presentation is funny and action-filled. There are scenes of black comedy with distinguishable eccentric elements like comical accidents and slips.
Profanity: Most of them are mildly violent, and there is a little bit of mild profanity in the movie but no graphic language or scenes. Profanity is permitted, but mild language is used; for instance, the use of “damn” or “hell” is acceptable.
Alcohol, Drugs, and Smoking: People are portrayed consuming alcohol in social contexts like dinner or at some events. There is no scene portraying excessive drinking or substance use.
Sex and Nudity: There exists a slight love triangle between JJ, Kate and Kevin, but there is no extreme scene of intimacy. Any passion scenes should fit the PG-13 rating. One of the main characters, Sophie, has a crush on a boy, Ryan, which is not perverted in any way and is quite suitable for children’s perception.
“My Spy: The Eternal City is an action-comedy film centred around a family narrative. There are elements of violence, mild language, and kidnapping, which, although not overly explicit, are portrayed as suitable for the PG-13 rating hence appropriate for teenagers and older kids. Due to the action scenes and kidnap plot, parents should consider the content suitable for children to watch.
