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‘Spies in Disguise’ Is a Perfect Feel-Good Movie for These Trying Times

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When Spies in Disguise breezed through theaters a few months back, I heard about it constantly from my Tom Holland-obsessed daughter. For some reason, we never saw it. Life.

But now it’s available digitally and on Blu-ray (and 4K) from 20th Century Fox, so the question is: Is it worth adding to your Social Distancing lineup of family movies?

Most definitely.

The film stars Will Smith as suave, nothing-is-impossible-because-he’s-so-cool secret agent Lance Sterling and Tom Holland as uber nerdy and socially awkward scientist Walter Beckett. When Sterling is framed for a crime he didn’t commit (natch), his own agency turns against him, and he’s forced to team up with Beckett to clear his name and solve the mystery.

Yeah, it sounds familiar. Yeah, the plot is relatively formulaic. Yeah, it could’ve been REALLY bad.

Thankfully, directors Troy Quane and Nick Bruno used all the cliches and spy movie stereotypes to their advantage. Spies in Disguise was inspired by Lucas Martell’s animated short “Pigeon: Impossible.” The two share almost nothing in common – aside from the pigeon.

In the process of escaping from his spy agency (and agents voiced by Rashida Jones, Reba McEntire, and Karen Gillan), Lance Sterling is inadvertently turned into a pigeon. Which requires him to stick with mostly inept Walter Beckett as the two travel the globe to hunt down bad guy Killian (the gleefully villainous Ben Mendelsohn.

The film is surprisingly fun – and funny! – and Smith and Holland nail their characters, even if they are playing exactly to type. But they’re not alone. The entire cast just sounds like they’re having a blast, and that makes it all the more fun to watch.

So yes, if you’re like us and missed this one in the theater, absolutely add Spies in Disguise to your quarantine list.

Special features include a few fun bonuses but nothing you can’t live without, quite honestly. (Surprisingly, the “Pigeon: Impossible” short is noticeably absent.) The real draw here is the film.

Jamie Greene
Jamie is a publishing/book nerd who makes a living by wrangling words together into some sense of coherence. Away from The Roarbots, Jamie is a road trip aficionado and an obsessed traveler who has made his way through 33 countries (and counting). Elsewhere on the interwebs, he's a contributor to SYFY Wire and StarWars.com and hosted The Great Big Beautiful Podcast for more than five years. Watch The Roarbots on Youtube

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