Director: Nick Bruno, Troy Quane
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Duration: 102 minutes
Spies in Disguise (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
It’s been a while since we last heard anything from Blue Sky Studios, except for the Ice Age Series, Rio and the more recent Ferdinand release. Other than that, the animated movie studios have been fairly silent for a while, but they haven’t been sitting still. The studios step away from their ‘all animals’ movies and are now aiming at embedding a key animal in the midst of a very human thing, namely the secret agent business. We were presented with the very fun idea of having a pigeon star as an honorary 007 in Spies in Disguise. We were curious to see if we’re being tossed mere breadcrumbs or if we were treated to a digital feast.
While not exactly at the first minute of the movie, we do get to meet secret agent Lance (Will Smith) early on. You’ll see him infiltrate in a Japanese facility to retrieve a killer drone that is said to be unstoppable. While everything goes smoothly and according to Lance’s plan, an unknown villain proves to be a force to be reckoned with. While initially thinking the weapon was retrieved, he later learns that the suitcase that was supposed to contain the weapon is in fact empty. When all of a sudden camera footage of him turns up, using said drone to attack innocent agents, he knows he’s being framed. Sadly, his co-workers don’t believe him at his word, and try to detain him. He can only rely on the tech nerd he just fired, to save his career and possibly the world. This gadget developer happens to be Walter (Tom Holland), a scientist who loves developing violence-free gadgets. He has currently invented a formula that can turn a human into a pigeon. You can see where the plot will go next.
The flow of the movie is somewhat typical for an animated film. You’ll be presented with the characters, where one often has a sobby background story. After that, a certain situation and problem occur, and the heroes will find a way to save the day. In this movie, however, the problematic situation occurs very early on, creating more tension and excitement which lasts for the duration of the film. Even though this is an animated feature, the movie remains action-packed all the way through.
Acting performances, or in this case, voice acting performances are pretty much wholly reliant on Will Smith, Tom Holland, Ben Mendelsohn and Rashida Jones. Even then, we can pretty much limit it to Will Smith and Tom Holland, as they are the leading duo of this movie. Will Smith doesn’t have to dig too deep to nail his performance, as he has had similar bad boy roles before, and has been known to don a suit, which he now does digitally. Tom Holland remains his geeky self, which perfectly suits his current role in the movie. The leading lady is played by Rashida Jones, who stars as Mercy, who is chasing Lance. Ben Mendelsohn plays the villain, who invokes a bit of sympathy towards the end of the film. Other stars also pass the revue, with small performances by DJ Khaled and Karen Gillan.
You’ll have a fair amount of special features on the Blu-ray version of Spies in Disguise. There will be a making of feature, a small clip about the gadgets that are used in the movie, and some music videos for you to enjoy. Other than that you’ll find the creation of the music of the movie, as well as a gallery and the theatrical trailer. We noticed that, even though the movie touches a rather heavy topic, the extras are directed towards children.
Conclusion
Spies in Disguise is actually a very witty and amusing animated movie. While it does take a short while to get used to the animation style, in combination with a topic that revolves around violence, revenge and losing loved ones, it grows on you after the intro is over. You’ll have a great movie to watch with your kids, or alone, as there’s more than enough humor to go around for every age. We were thoroughly amused by this movie that somewhat passed under the radar during the ongoing crisis in the world.
Spies in Disguise (Blu-ray) - Movie Review,
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