Sometimes you’re just in the mood for pop culture candy, you know what we mean? You want to watch a show that is entertaining, but not one where you have to understand deeper stories or meanings. But even if a show is just mindless fun, it’s better when it’s done right. Does it apply to a new Prime Video series from Japan?
GAME OF SPY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening shot: A scratchy recording says “The Desus Gate takes effect”, then we see someone standing in front of a lit up wall of weapons, including some ninja stars and guns. To see also : Study: Movies Based on Most Searched Video Games.
The Gist: In Manila on Christmas Eve 2021, a woman is held hostage. We then cut to Tokyo on February 21, 2022. The Tokyo World Expo is about to begin, and there is a welcome party at the Skytree building. But there is a threat, which is why the members of the Group of Spies (GOS), a secret part of the Public Security Intelligence Agency, are under surveillance: Matsaharu Katsuki (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) and the freelance spy Rei Hiyama (Lauren). Tsai). They are waiting for another GOS agent Takeru Hashiba (Noriyuki Higashiyama), who is running late.
As they try to neutralize the bomb they think is in the tower, they come under attack from a group of attackers with a knife and a gun. When Katsuki figures out where the bomb actually is, the three fight their way through the crowd, and then Hashiba manages to launch a powered ninja star to help misdirect and disable the bomb.
But the work of the task force is not over, as its leader, Ryuichi Takahara (Ken Matsudaira) discovers when he is informed by Prime Minister Naoto Kaizaki (Min Tanaka): A terrorist organization called Mundo threatens all 14 million of Tokyo residents. and the spy team has three days to find out who is in this group and stop their attack.
What shows will you remember? Game Of Spy definitely gives us Mission: Impossible vibes, both the 60s-70s series and the Tom Cruise movies. It’s a bit more campy than that, with a bit of humor and cartoonish violence mixed in with redemption, but when Takahara tells his team that if they’re caught or killed, the government won’t recognize their actions, which gave us a strong link to M:I.
Our Take: Game Of Spy is essentially a five-hour action film. It has a large cast, mostly consisting of characters who are either spies or government officials. The dialogue is over the top at times, campy at others. The violence is cartoonish, with blood splatters that are bright red and look like CGI.
Is there a plot? For sure. Stop this mysterious terrorist group from destroying Tokyo. Is there character development? Well, hopefully we’ll learn a bit about these spies as the series progresses, but we won’t see much more than glimpses via dialogue. For example, Katsuki finds Hiyama at the airport and tells him that they need her for the new mission, and asks if he is “manhunting” again.
But let’s not judge Game of Spy for anything more than what it is: A brilliant spy thriller with plenty of high-octane action. If you are looking for more, look elsewhere.
Sex and Skin: None in the first episode.
Parting Shot: A leader of the Mundo organization makes a video saying that the Gate of Desus will finally be opened in a foreign county.
Sleeper Star: Lauren Tsai is hilarious as Riyama, an American who is a freelance spy and pretty much the only woman in the group. Is she a great actress? Nah. But she adds a lot of flair to the action sequences.
Most Pilot-y Line: Riyama says “leave me here” after the Skytree job. The only thing is “here” is in the middle of nowhere.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Game Of Spy is mindless fun, which is sometimes all you need in a show.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and technology, but he’s not kidding: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
