Spies in Disguise fills that gap in all three dimensions of this animated spy… comedy. What’s so funny about a superspy? Well, he’s a talking pigeon for the better part of the movie.
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If you ever wished Will Smith missed his chance to play James Bond, fret not. Spies in Disguise fills that gap in all three dimensions of this animated spy… comedy. What’s so funny about a superspy? Well, he’s a talking pigeon for the better part of the movie.
Based on an absurd premise that originated in a short film (see Pigeon: Impossible), Spies in Disguise is a quirky family entertainer that stars Tom Holland, Rashida Jones and even DJ Khaled among other familiar names. When Will Smith’s egocentric superspy Lance Sterling gets accidentally turned into a pigeon by Tom Holland’s misunderstood, underdog scientist Walter Beckett, it’s up to the duo to save the world from an evil mastermind.
The story’s proceedings lend itself to entertainingly tick all the boxes in a genre of this sort. However, with the exception of some inspired lighting and colour choices, the technical aspects feel rather underdeveloped. The animation is certainly what you’d expect from a movie of this scale, but it doesn’t aim to exceed expectations. The exaggerated character design feels fairly unimaginative and bland, but chances are, you won’t notice it thanks to the excellent voice acting by the cast that makes up for it. In any case, what you see in the trailer is what you’re going to get. And surely, that’s good enough for the majority of the film’s target audience.
Spies in Disguise is a great setup for its one-and-three-quarter hour runtime of exotic international locales, large explosions, cute gadgets, slapstick set pieces and smart one-liners. The kids will love it. But if your age extends into the double digits, this Disney offering may be somewhat generic given the studio’s pedigree.
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