Good evening everyone! Welcome to another session of movie reviewing after being absent from that for apparently a couple weeks now. Today, I’m very excited as we review the first of three films that, as I mentioned in my weekend post on Facebook earlier this week, that I would be reviewing within likely a few days of each. Tonight kicks that off, as we review an animated spy movie that was made by 20th Century Fox & Blue Sky Studios of all companies. It is the one and only Spies In Disguise, starring Will Smith & Tom Holland.
Plot: After a Secret spy agent named Lance Sterling (Will Smith), who works for Secret spy agency by the name of H.T.U.V. (Honesty, Trust, Unity, & Valor), is framed for a crime, he accidentally gets turned into a blue pigeon shortly after that. Now, with the help of a nerdy scientist (Tom Holland), can they succeed in working together to bring down the very villain who actually is the criminal mastermind?
Now, I know what you all may be thinking? From the sound of the plot, this film sounds like James Bond meets The Emperor’s New Groove meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit, right? This film may have quite a few similarities with those movies. However, even if that may be the case, this film does do well with standing on it’s own two legs. But first, let’s talk about the downsides of this movie, shall we? First of all, Killian, who happens to be the villain of this movie, he was an okay villain. However, at the end of the day, you may find yourself thinking that there probably could have been more depth to him. Also, besides the two main leads, the rest of the cast could have maybe had bigger roles than they seemed to end up having in the end. As a result, most of those characters seemed to be very stereotypical. Honestly, I found myself thinking that even the supporting cast from the 2014 Disney film Big Hero 6 were more developed than these guys. Now yes, Big Hero 6’s supporting cast could have had a little more depth too. However, it was at least somewhat better there than here in Spies In Disguise.
Now, let’s talk about the upsides of Spies In Disguise, shall we? First off, there is plenty of comedy within this film. I mean what lacks in depth with characters, and maybe even the story to a degree, it makes up for with lots of comedy and action. In fact, when watching this movie, it’s almost like watching an animated, and/or more family friendly version of say the 2008 Warner Bros. action film Get Smart (which, as many of us probably know, that film was geared more for adults). Also, Will Smith and Tom Holland have really great chemistry as partners, and work really well off each other. I mean can you believe that Holland goes from working with Robert Downy Jr.’s Iron Man in the Marvel superhero films to now working with Will Smith in an animated spy movie? How about that? Additionally, the animation is very good. It just comes to show how far 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios has come with their animation since first releasing Ice Age back in 2002. Also, even if there is some amount of richness and heart that is lacking in this film, there is still a very good amount of that found in this movie. In addition to all of this, Spies In Disguise does a very good job of breaking some cliches that have been found in previous films from recently, or even from years ago. I won’t go into details as to what kind for those of you who haven’t seen this movie yet, but still want to. As far as the character development goes, while some of the supporting cast could have been a little better developed, at least we can be glad that our main characters seemed to be the more stronger points of this film. In fact, if it weren’t for them, while this movie wouldn’t have exactly fallen completely flat, the movie would have more than likely gone downhill slowly but surely. What’s even more is that Spies In Disguise does a fantastic job of teaching kids, and likely even teens and adults, to not be a lone ranger, but to allow others to come along with you on any journey that you take. I mean that’s what friendships are for, right? The premise is also really creative with the whole deal about trying to deal with dangerous situations in, let’s just say, unexpected ways.
Well folks, that’s my review for Spies In Disguise. It is a really fun family film with some good animation, some surprisingly good comedy, and a good, not great, storyline. Oh, and let’s not forget about the action and comedy mixing together. Definitely make a point to see Spies In Disguise if you haven’t! You may yet have an unexpected more of a fun time.
Final Grade: B
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 