Dave Bautista is officially a movie star. He demonstrated his comedy talents in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and in Blade Runner 2049, he showed he could be good with dramatic roles.

But successfully headlining a family-friendly action-comedy will take Bautista to another level and he’s done that with the surprisingly fun My Spy, available on Amazon Prime.

I reviewed the movie for Asheville’s Mountain Xpress:

My Spy wouldn’t be nearly as fun without Dave Bautista carrying the entire venture on his formidably muscled shoulders. Any doubters who dismissed Bautista as another pro wrestler trying to be a movie star like Dwayne Johnson were likely silenced by the comic timing he showed in the Guardians of the Galaxy films.

Bautista has continued to use that talent for deadpan humor in comedies like Stuber, and with My Spy, he’s taking the step to family-friendly action star, which elevated the careers of Johnson, Vin Diesel and John Cena. (Bautista is also a producer here, showing he knows this is the right move, balanced with his roles in upcoming spectacles such as Dune, Army of the Dead and a third Guardians movie.)

Until Bautista was cast as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, I didn’t know much about him. I was mostly disappointed that Jason Momoa wasn’t cast in the role. I knew he was a pro wrestler, but wasn’t following WWE then.

One of Bautista’s first movies, 2011’s House of the Rising Sun, happened to be on cable around that time so I took the opportunity to see if he had the goods. He… did not. Very stiff and wooden, and he was the star of this thing!

But Bautista was a revelation as Drax, showing great comic timing and deadpan humor. He had a couple more movies on his résumé by then, but maybe director James Gunn helped tap into his inner comedian. If that’s true, Bautista owes Gunn a significant debt for a flourishing movie career.

Please read the full review at Mountain Xpress.