6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.4 |
A pair of friends embark on an espionage adventure after one of them finds out her ex is a spy.
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Sam Heughan, Justin Theroux, Gillian AndersonComedy | 100% |
Action | 1% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Did Melissa McCarthy kickstart a whole new subgenre with Spy? It’s not hard to draw a through line straight from that 2015 comedy to the similarly raucous and even somewhat similarly plotted The Spy Who Dumped Me, a film which ups what I called the “fish (spy?) out of water” ante in the Paul Feig opus by positing not one but two females suddenly thrust into the high octane (and equally high testosterone) world of international espionage. Much like Spy, a lot of The Spy Who Dumped Me attempts to wreak comedic havoc out of potty mouthed pronouncements about any number of things, and this film is a veritable minefield of “f” bombs. In that regard, it might be salient to note what I personally found to be the one undeniably laugh out loud moment of The Spy Who Dumped Me, a moment that relies more on smart visual pacing instead of a literal "blue streak" of dialogue. The story has already detailed the travails of Audrey Stockton (Mila Kunis), a cashier who is nursing a bruised ego after having been, well, dumped by her boyfriend — via text. Audrey’s BFF Morgan (Kate McKinnon), a woman whose surname just happens to be Freeman (she admits late in the film that she gets reservations anywhere she calls), is a no nonsense sort who has encouraged Audrey to burn all the items of erstwhile paramour Drew (Justin Theroux), who, unbeknownst to either of the girls, is some sort of agent overseas who is dodging a slew of attackers even as Audrey texts him to tell him all of his belongings are going up in flames. At any rate, to jump to the chase (in more than one manner of speaking), the women find themselves overseas to ostensibly complete a mission Drew sends them on, and amidst the nonstop (and frequently completely unnecessary) invocation of any number of non-deleted expletives, there is an absolutely hilarious little bit, where the girls, themselves being chased by a horde of bad guys, attempt to hijack a luxury automobile that has two elderly and very well dressed people about to get inside. The women push the real owners of the vehicle aside, jump in and freak out when they discover the car is a stick shift, which neither of them knows how to drive. Amid the sound of grinding gears, the cars begins to coast in slow motion down a slight incline, as the two elders walk kind of briskly next to it, pounding on the windows, trying to get inside their own car. The sedan ultimately crashes in slow motion into a magazine stand, and the entire sequence is one of the funniest things I’ve seen recently. Unfortunately, this is a rare totally guffaw provoking oasis in what is otherwise a kind of parched desert of sound and fury, often, yep, signifying nothing.
Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray.
The Spy Who Dumped Me is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 2.40:1. This shows the same kind of
detail and fine detail upticks that are regularly seen in 4K versions of 2K DIs, with a number of newly precise elements added, albeit often on picayune
items like the nametag Audrey wears, which is now more legible than in the 1080p Blu-ray version. Detail on things like facial pores and, later, some
wounds is also noticeably more precise looking in this version. That said, the biggest differences to me were definitely with regard to the palette, and
rather interestingly Dolby Vision actually cools things off at several key junctures in this version when compared to the 1080p Blu-ray version. The
whole opening sequence with Drew trying to escape the bad guys is noticeably more desaturated in the 4K iteration, to the point that it almost looks
like an old hand colored black and white offering, and rather interestingly, this same desaturated look is more prevalent in some other sequences now,
at least marginally more so than in the 1080p Blu-ray version, in such scenes as the big torture sequence where Nadedja has our heroines tied and
shackled. This same sequence, which takes place in a dimly lit abandoned Olympics facility (at least that's what I think it's supposed to be)
also offers at least some incrementally better shadow detail in this version. There are some notably warmer moments in this presentation, though,
including the scenes with the girls biking through picturesque European streets, and the later, almost psychedelically colored, climax at the "circus",
where the glut of purples and oranges have discernable new highlights throughout. Audrey's violet dress in this sequence also has a somewhat paler
look in this version. A few isolated moments, like the scene where Audrey discovers a way to access Duffer's phone which requires a thumbprint
(that's all I'm going to say on the subject) have an interesting new more buttery yellow grading.
The Spy Who Dumped Me features an aggressive and consistently immersive Dolby Atmos track, one which offers good surround activity in both the expected action sequences (which include an early explosion that offers some really forceful LFE which pans quite impressively) as well as quieter moments, like the bar scene where Audrey meets Drew. The film has a number of fun chase sequences, including a totally manic car chase with motorcycles in pursuit that offers a glut of sonic activity spilling through all channels, but with really appealing directionality and nice placement of individual effects. A number of stylistically variant source cues are also utilized, and those also reside in the surround channels quite winningly. Aside from some of the noisier moments where dialogue is frankly not all that important, spoken lines are otherwise delivered cleanly and clearly, and the entire track boasts excellent fidelity and extremely wide dynamic range.
The 4K UHD disc commendably includes all of the supplements also featured as extras on the 1080p Blu-ray disc:
There's some enjoyably goofy material scattered throughout The Spy Who Dumped Me, but the film is all over the place in terms of style and even content, and never seems to settle down long enough to address several unexplained plot points or develop the characters beyond the bare necessities to get them from Point A to Point B. The film is at least brisk and often extremely scenic, and Kunis and McKinnon are well matched as the bumbling duo in way over their heads. The 4K presentation definitely ups the detail ante, at least marginally, but the palette undergoes some really interesting new changes courtesy of Dolby Vision. For fans of the cast if for no one else, The Spy Who Dumped Me comes Recommended.
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