Today’s quick review: Barely Lethal. Teenage assassin Megan Walsh (Hailee Steinfeld) has always dreamed of a normal childhood, away from Hardman (Samuel L. Jackson) and his relentless training. She finally gets her chance when a mission to capture Victoria Knox (Jessica Alba) gives her the chance to fake her own death. Adopting a cover identity as an exchange student, Megan moves in with a host family and sets out to learn what high school is all about.
Barely Lethal is a teen action comedy about a sixteen-year-old spy getting her first taste of a normal life. The movie follows Megan’s attempts to fit in, make friends, and find love while keeping her past a secret. Barely Lethal has a decent premise but lacks the creativity to follow up on it. It has enough character development and light humor to hold modest entertainment value, but its generic story and shaky follow-through keep it from standing out.
Barely Lethal has a strange relationship with other high school comedies. Megan forms her expectations about high school from movies like Mean Girls and is shocked when they prove not to be realistic. But Barely Lethal itself is no better. The packaging may be different, but it ends up dealing with the same themes of being yourself and not judging books by their covers as other movies in the genre, making it much less self-aware than it’s trying to be.
The spy side of the plot is also a weird fit with the rest of the movie. Megan’s unusual background is mostly played for laughs, with only the barest amount of detail given to Hardman and his school. The beginning and end of the movie are the only times when Megan’s skills are really relevant, and they are entirely unnecessary for the high school story the movie actually wants to tell. This makes the film’s premise something of a missed opportunity.
Even with these quirks, Barely Lethal does more or less what it sets out to do. Megan’s high school journey is not all that original, but it does hit the beats it needs to, especially when it comes to her relationship with her host Liz Larson (Dove Cameron). The movie’s spy elements are not all that compelling on their own, but they do lead to some decent fight choreography when Megan’s past catches up with her.
On the whole, Barely Lethal is a fine watch for those interested in a teen comedy, but it has little to set it apart from the other movies in the genre. It goes through the motions reasonably well, but it’s missing the heart and originality of the best the genre has to offer, and even its action-oriented premise largely goes to waste. Those who are curious may want to give it a shot, but most viewers would be better off looking elsewhere.
For a full-blown spy adventure with a similar setup, try Charlie’s Angels. For a more kid-friendly take on the spy genre, try Agent Cody Banks. For a much more violent movie about a teen assassin trying to fit in at school, try Kick-Ass 2. For a more iconic movie about life in high school, try Mean Girls, The Breakfast Club, or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. For assassination antics at a high school reunion, try Grosse Pointe Blank.
5.4 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 for mixed execution of a generic story.