Jason Statham has destroyed more villainous goons than we’ve had hot (and cold) dinners - and we're greedy buggers. He’s back repeating the trick in Paul Feig/Melissa McCarthy espionage action-comedy, Spy. This time, however, he’s playing things for laughs. A new clip from the film showcases his rather insecure agent and comes off like Alan Partridge channelling Daniel Craig's 007. Job done.
“This arm has been ripped off completely and reattached with this fucking arm,” he barks, desperately asserting his badass credentials in a way that would raise at least one Chev Chelios eyebrow.
Statham, who plays a temper-fuelled spy called Rick Ford, has been on Feig’s wishlist since Lock, Stock and more specifically, those two Crank movies. “When people read the Statham role they assumed I’d go for someone like Will Ferrell, but I felt that it had to be the real guy,” the writer/director told **Empire.
McCarthy, meanwhile, is Susan Cooper, a CIA analyst whose excited dreams of being a field agent have long since died down to the mundane task of guiding more adept field operatives such as Jude Law’s super-smooth spy guy. But when he falls off the grid and their entire organisation is jeopardised by a wrongdoer (Rose Byrne), her handlers’ only choice is to send Susan in. But it won’t be easy. And thanks to the horrible cover identity they’ve saddled her with, it won’t be pretty, either.
Head here for a look at the movie’s full trailer or catch it in cinemas from June 5.