My Spy: The Eternal City review: "Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman maintain their winning rapport in a solid-enough sequel"

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There comes a time in the career of every Hollywood hardman when he has to face the toughest challenge of all… playing opposite a child. For Dave Bautista, it came in 2020 with espionage action-com My Spy, which cast the MCU star as CIA field agent JJ who, together with tech-head Bobbi (Kristen Schaal), has to surveil single mum Kate (Parisa Fitz-Henley) and her precocious nine-year-old daughter, Sophie (Chloe Coleman).

Again directed by Peter Segal, My Spy: The Eternal City sees JJ agree to help teacher Nancy (Anna Faris) in chaperoning the now-teenage Sophie and dozens of her schoolmates on a trip to Rome. The kids might be in a choir that’s performing in the Italian capital, but they’re certainly no angels, with JJ needing to employ his particular set of skills to herd these hormonal charges. Meanwhile, a group of terrorists looking to nuke the Vatican must be stopped…

This time out, JJ has Ken Jeong’s head of covert operations David in the field to help/hinder him - the Hangover star clearly relishes escaping his desk - while Sophie acts as his sidekick (turns out JJ’s spent the years between the two movies rigorously training her).

OK, so the action’s routine (as is the norm for this sub-genre) and the spy plot skimps on mystery and twists. But Bautista and Coleman maintain their winning rapport from the first film, and Schaal’s inappropriate comments never fail to amuse. It’s just about enough. And if it isn’t, there’s always Bautista’s line reading of: "I have to buy tampons…"

My Spy: The Eternal City is available on Prime Video from 18 July. For more, check out our guide to the upcoming movies to keep on your radar.