5 reasons we desperately need to talk about the movie 'Spy'.

You know when all you want to do is rave about something? This is me now.

I really need to talk about the film Spy.

It is actually the bomb (and is also about a bomb). It’s Bridesmaids-style hilarious (and incidentally directed by the same bloke). I cried actual tears in the cinema, then was momentarily concerned that I was really sad, but then realised I had just used up all my laughs.

After seeing a preview, this movie did not interest me at all. But with movie vouchers to use, a free Friday night and a 100% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes (it is now at 94%), I hesitantly gave the action-comedy a shot.

Now, I am a full-blown, raving convert.

Check out this preview. It does not at all do the movie justice.

Plot-wise, it’s about overlooked and talented desk-bound CIA analyst Susan Cooper (played by Melissa McCarthy), who goes into the field after all the top agents’ identities are compromised. She goes undercover to try to stop the villain (played by Rose Byrne) from selling a nuclear bomb to a terrorist organisation. She ignores her strict instructions to not make contact with the baddies and goes rogue. Hilarity ensues.

These are the reasons the film is excellent and you need to see it RIGHT NOW:

1. All the women.

The hero CIA analyst, her trusty sidekick, the CIA boss lady and the villain are all chicks. ‘Nuff said.

2. The film’s male director is a feminist. And it shows.

Self-described feminist Paul Feig – director of Bridesmaids (which also stars both McCarthy and Byrne, as well as Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and a bunch of other talented female comedians), The Heat (featuring McCarthy and Sandra Bullock) and now Spy – has proved yet again that women can carry big Hollywood films alone and should not be relegated to the supporting cast. Not only does he keep making movies with women in the main roles, but he continually casts McCarthy, someone who doesn’t fit Hollywood’s traditional standards of beauty, as a lead character.

He also illustrates the prejudice shown to McCarthy’s character because of her appearance in the movie. She is stuck in the friend zone with her crush, the undercover identities she is given are all unflattering and unexciting – like “divorced housewife from Iowa” and “cat lady” – and when she receives all her cool spy gadgets, they are hidden in embarrassing lotions and potions, like laxatives and nail fungus treatments.

Plus, all the female characters in the film are really smart and funny. There is not a ditz (or even a blonde) in sight. (Needless to say, it smashes the Bechdel test.)

3. A female spy is allowed to have emotions. And that’s funny.

Unlike other spy movies with cool, calm and collected James Bond-types, this one allows the spy to have feelings.

Like (spoiler alert!) when Cooper accidentally kills her first baddie, who falls off a ledge and onto a spike, which skewers him. While fretting about it and looking at the body, Cooper then accidentally knocks a knife over the edge, which lands in his chest. At that graphic sight, she vomits into the abyss. As it falls, she yells: “Not on his face.” But of course, that’s exactly where it ends up. (It sounds lame but it’s up there with the Bridesmaids’ shitting in the street in bridal gown scene.)

And it is the female relationships that add so many layers and dimensions to a movie with a plot essentially similar to a Bond movie. Despite being on opposite sides of the law, Cooper and the villain seem to develop an amicable relationship (despite constantly insulting each other about their appearance and behaviour). Their final words to each other are “f*ck you”, but you know they really like each other. (Ah, internal smiles.)

4. It features the best sidekick in history.

Cooper’s sidekick is a tall, gangly and awkward English woman (played by comedian Miranda Hart), a far cry from the usual stereotypical Bond girl. While that means they do not have sex in the shower, their “wo-mance” is way better to watch.

5. The blokes in the film are funny, too.

I should mention that the male actors, Jude Law and Jason Statham (the dude from the Lock Stock franchise), are also excellent.

And look out for a cameo from McCarthy’s real-life husband, Ben Falcone (who plays Air Marshall John in Bridesmaids). This movie is at least the sixth the couple have appeared in together.

So, basically, it’s great to see McCarthy smashing it. Now, I can’t wait to see her reunited with Kristen Wiig for the all-female remake of Ghostbusters (again, directed by Feig).

Now, please go see it so I have more people to endlessly talk about it with.

For more on McCarthy, watch her with fellow funny lady Ellen:

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What did you think of the movie?