‘The Spy Who Never Dies’ Review
Stars: Paul O’Brien, Georgia Walters, Kristy Wordsworth, Teressa Liane, Hafedh Dakhlaoui, Cassandra Magrath, Amy Christian, Natasha Maymon, Amir Aizenstros, Josh Karlik, Luke Davis, Igor Bulanov | Written and Directed by Corey Pearson
Written and directed by Corey Pearson, The Spy Who Never Dies is a quirky action rom-com about an international spy named Brad (Paul O’Brien), who’s sick of saving the world and is looking for more from life, in fact just a “normal” life. A life with no guns, no villains, no recovering plutonium. A serendipitous event (as in Brad stealing a dog post-assassination) has Brad meeting a seemingly normal girl named Veronica (Georgia Walters) a smart, cute, vet. Veronica has a congenital heart condition, any excessive elevation in her adrenaline and heart rate could end her life. On top of that, she is allergic to bees, so a recipe for disaster… probably.
The film follows Brad as he tries to quit the spy agency, whilst trying to have a normal relationship with Veronica. However, Brad just can’t get the break he needs to see if love and a normal life are right for him… Enter the Russians with stolen hypersonic missiles and a mysterious character called Trident who is hell-bent on revenge! Which means Brad has to juggle his relationship with Veronica, all the while having to save the world… again.
The Spy Who Never Dies opens with the hijack of a sub by a badass female spy who’s there to steal the “big load.” It’s an incredibly unsubtle piece of innuendo that tells the audience exactly what to expect from the film – a satire of the spy genre that reminded me very much of Leslie Nielsen’s Spy Hard, only a hell of a lot more subtle in its humour… Well, most of the time.
So it turns out the “big load” was some Russian missiles and the thief, Trident (not the gum), negotiates with a Russian crime boss, called THE Boss, for their return as long as they use them to blow up key targets of her choosing. You see she, like a lot of women in this film, has an issue with Brad. Yes, it turns out spies like Brad – who’s clearly modelled after James Bond – who schmooze and canoodle their way through spy life, will leave some women heartbroken. Heartbroken enough to destroy the world! It’s a brilliant observation, one that comes from someone who has a clear love for the genre, enough to have contemplated what James Bond’s misogynistic behaviour would have put into the world.
Whilst The Spy Who Never Dies is a satire of the spy movie, it still conforms to a lot of the same tropes and cliches of the genre – which means Pearson’s film is still packed with action, including a great bathroom fight sequence that is on a par with the one in Mission Impossible: Fallout. There are certainly enough set-pieces to satisfy action movie fans, in fact if it wasn’t for the humour The Spy Who Never Dies could actually be a serious soy-film contender. But Pearson’s film does have laughs, which makes it a lot of fun; but it also has romance at its core too – the burgeoning relationship between Brad and Veronica is at once sweet-natured and heartwarming AND sexually charged and a little kinky! Yes, even their relationship is played for laughs.
The balance of action and comedy in The Spy Who Never Dies really works and writer/director Corey Pearson knows just when to lean into either at the perfect time. Plus the film is buoyed by a group of performers – including Paul O’Brien as Brad, Georgia Walters who’s particularly brilliant in her role as Brad’s love interest Veronica, Kristy Wordsworth as fellow spy Jennifer and Teressa Liane as Trident – who know exactly what the film needs from them. Special shout-out has to go to Hafedh Dakhlaoui as the spy “dog walker” who provides some fantastic comic relief throughout the film!
Ultimately The Spy Who Never Dies is a spot-on satire of James Bond and the genre as a whole, everything about the film hits the mark and on top of that, the film is a whole heap of fun!
