This is a bad time of year to hit the local multiplex at least once a week. January means all the stuff the studios didn’t think was remotely good comes out as it’s all they have left after releasing the good stuff for possible awards consideration. True, a number of movies haven’t hit wide release yet, so there’s still good stuff to be found. But this week’s only real new release was the latest remake of The Grudge, and I had no interest in that at all.
But I was sick over my Christmas vacation/break, so I did have the animated Spies in Disguise I hadn’t seen yet.
Lance Sterling (voiced by Will Smith) is your standard movie superspy, meaning even though his job is espionage everyone knows who he is. While out on a mission, what he takes for a bomb instead explodes with a lot of glitter and kitten pictures, stunning all the attacking badguys with temporary joy. Sterling gets the briefcase a robo-handed villain (Ben Mendelsohn continuing to just play villains), so all seems good. He just goes off to fire the tech head nerd Walter (Tom Holland) who gave him something that didn’t explode. Walter believes in doing good, so all he makes are nonlethal gadgets, and that doesn’t sit well with Sterling.
The Sterling himself is framed for wrongdoing and has to make a run for it himself from an Internal Affairs investigator (Rashida Jones) and her two assistants (Karen Gillan and DJ Khaled). Needing a way to hide, Sterling remembers Walter’s mentioning a way to disappear, and yes, Walter just perfected a method, but Sterling isn’t the type to listen, finding himself transformed into a talking pigeon. Now forced to work with pigeon enthusiast Walter, he’ll need to stay one step ahead of his own agency while trying to find the bad guys making him look bad.
So, as animated movies go, this was one was fairly standard. Lots of slapstick, a little bathroom humor, and Will Smith basically being a cartoon version of the character he plays in most movies. Holland is fine, but there’s nothing to distinguish him in any way. Really, they could have used a professional no-name voice actor for his Walter and, indeed, most of the rest of the cast. That isn’t to say they’re bad, just that none of their voices stand out as themselves except for Smith. It’s really hard to hide Will Smith.
I will say, the screening I saw the movie in had a lot of kids, and they were enjoying themselves, so while Spies in Disguise may not be much for single adults, it sure could be a good treat for children.
Grade: C+
0 Comments