SPIES IN DISGUISE: A Perfectly Average Send-Off To A Decade Of Computer Animation’s Coming Of Age

What better way to cap off a decade full of flashy and colorful computer animated family fare than one last flashy and colorful computer animated family fare?

Spies in Disguise, the latest outing from the studio behind Ferdinand, Rio, & way too many Ice Age movies, pairs Will Smith and Hollywood’s hot commodity Tom Holland in a perfect one-liner of a plot idea: What if James Bond’s Q accidentally turns 007 into a pigeon, and the two of them have to work together to fight the bad guy under these crazy new circumstances? It’s a ridiculous, high-concept idea perfect for the animated medium, but the question inevitably remains – does Spies in Disguise pull it off?

“Let The Beat Drop”

In short, yeah. Spies in Disguise doesn’t resort to over-confidence in its fun-loving story concept as a means of getting families to buy large-order tickets and neglect a lot of the other important, if often overlooked, stuff that makes a movie. Smith’s character Lance Sterling and Holland’s Walter Beckett make a classic odd couple pairing, each with their own, albeit predictable arcs, and are generally fun to watch interact and riff off each other.

But where Blue Sky’s movie shines the most is in its action set pieces – as is the case with most action-oriented films of this medium. While this may not match up to the technical level of standard set by the likes of Disney Animation and Pixar, both of whom are so far ahead in the game, it’s not even fair at this point, Spies employs a team of visually-minded experts who lead the way in crafting some genuinely impressive action sequences.

“Un-bird Me… Right Now!”

Now enough of what I liked about it, let’s cover what I didn’t. But here’s the thing – there’s not really anything egregiously wrong with this. At least, not as much as you might expect from a kids movie outside of Disney or Pixar these days. In fact, I had a pretty decent time watching this, with nothing major ever really coming in the way of that. Though I did forget most of what happened over the film’s hour and forty-two minute runtime the day I went to go see it.

Obviously, that’s not much of a good sign for determining a movie’s merits, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie either. I had a good time all throughout the time I watched it, and nothing serious detracted from that, not even the fact that I couldn’t tell you any of the characters’ names outside of the two leads and the villain.

This is a movie that entertains for an hour and forty-two minutes, and nothing more. My cynicism that jaded with years of seeing bad animated kids movies come and go preceded my watching this, and left a satisfied, content result of low-expectations that led me to genuinely have a nice, decent time with Spies in Disguise.

Spies in Disguise: Conclusion

So all in all, Spies in Disguise is an almost poetically appropriate summary of everything computer animation has become in the last ten or so years – a high concept, if mostly forgettable, star-studded vehicle with impressively staged action set pieces. It’s been done a hundred times but for some reason, a newborn nostalgia maybe, I can’t get enough of it.

Blue Sky’s latest feature has it all and more – for better or for worse – and sends off the decade with one last animated film that’s simple fun for kids of all ages, and is far from unbearable for a family outing for the holidays.

Have you seen Spies in Disguise? What did you think? We want to know! 

Spies in Disguise was released in theaters in the US on December 25, 2019 and the UK on December 26, 2019. For all international release dates, see here.