Note, mainly to myself, I still need to do posts for Jojo Rabbit and,
now, Cats.
It's a beautiful thing when you can walk into a movie expecting to hate it but
then walk out thinking it was alright. That was my experience with
Spies In Disguise. It looked like they wasted the potential to do a CGI,
action-packed, kid-friendly version of the show Archer, but a
lot of that is there. Even better, the movie has a great message for kids who
don't like being considered "weird," and there's a surprising message about how
actual spies, government agencies and police need to be more accountable when
working. Still, jokes can be pretty hit-or-miss, and that does hold
Spies In Disguise back from being a real contender when it comes to
ranking the flick next to Toy Story 4 and other animated hits from this
overall stunning year for films.
The movie, directed by Troy Quane & Nick Bruno, is about superstar agent,
one-man-army, Lance Sterling (Will Smith) having to team up with the agency's
scientist and gadget creator, Walter Beckett (Tom Holland) so that he can
clear his name after being set up for treason. Lance needs a way to be able to
operate covertly, he turns to Walter for something that can help, and Walter
turns him a pigeon.
Luckily animal-related "hijinks" are pretty much kept in check, and that's
one of the best things about the movie. Instead, the best parts, are either
Holland and Smith playing off of each other, or it's the fun and creative
action that itself is character-driven.
Smith (left) and Holland (right) are a dream-team for the studio and the audience | Copyright 2019 Fox/Disney
What I mean by character-driven action is the idea that only these guys
could think of these things and pull it off. A perfect example is the
character of Bullseye in the Daredevil comics, movie, and especially show.
He turns even the most unlikely object anything into a projectile, and the
creators play with that. In Spies In Disguise, it's all about
Walter's non-lethal gadgets and approach to taking down the bad guys. In
that aspect, it's like if Batman wasn't brooding because Walter, instead of
spray painting everything the color of darkness, makes everything bright,
colorful, and practically candy-coated. It's the perfect approach to take
for animation.
Animation-wise, Blue Sky Studio's best comparison is Sony Animation. They
both love to do things in a heavily stylized manner that's closer to classic
Warner Brothers and MGM cartoons than to Pixar's and DreamWorks's typically
more realistic look. That's why the movie looks so good, it plays everything
fast and loose, and it never really rests. That's critical when a movie's
writing may not be as tight as it should be.
So, the jokes vary. Some, like one-liners by communications expert Ears (DJ
Khaled) definitely won't be for everyone, but that's also why they're
one-liners. It's a bump in the road just about every character hits
periodically, but it's worth hearing because of what the movie really has to
say.
Lance Sterling being a one-man army gets directly tied to collateral damage
he does while working, and, again, it feels heavy for a kids movie.
Superhero movies like Avengers: Age of Ultron and
Man of Steel definitely opened the door to talk about this subject in
media, but it still was separated by the idea of superhumans vs regular
people, and are superhumans above the law. This turns it into is anyone
above the law, are government agencies above the law? Admittedly, it can
only go so far without becoming too heavy, or preachy, but it's more than
some things like...it's tough to actually find an example...Gangster Squad, which has a line about officers leaving their badges at home.
Spies in Disguise works hard to earn its rating.
Even with Disney buying Blue Sky
Studios (Fox), they should still have a bright future ahead moving into the
next decade.
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