I laughed and laughed through Spies in Disguise. It was funny and smart, well made and with great music. Although good music may have become the new norm since Despicable Me, Sing and the Trolls movies.

With Spies in Disguise, I get the feeling watching this that we’re watching the start of a “Bond” movie series for kids.

There was also a serious theme that ran throughout the movie which I did not expect. It was a welcome surprise and may be indicative of the future of kids movies.

But … there were instances in which I wondered whether certain scenes should not just have been left out and if it was a bit too much for my 5 year old. She loved it but maybe some of the scenes were a little scary and the jokes maybe not appropriate.

I’ll address age suitability at the end of this post but first just give you an idea of the movie:

a brief outline of the plot without giving away too many spoilers, especially the main twist in the beginning of the movie;
some of the parts I thought positive; and
reasons I had some concerns.

I really enjoyed Spies in Disguise all in all.

There is also something of a very very interesting underlying message which I would like to explore a bit more.

Spies in Disguise

With Spies in Disguise I feel like we’ve hit a new era of kids movies for our children. This is definitely the next level up from Despicable Me and Incredibles.

I realize now that our children have outgrown the cutesy, innocent children’s movies. Charlie Brown and Paddington may not cut it anymore. (Side note: I wrote this just before the new Paddington series came out on TV and my kids love that so not all hope is lost).

Spies in Disguise ticked a lot of boxes, I did not like all the humour but I will get to that later. In short, I reckon my kids would watch it more than once in a single weekend if allowed. It was that good.

The plot

As with most kids movies coming out at the moment, there were a few story lines and themes running simultaneously.

At the heart of the movie is the dashing Super-Spy Lance. Lance is handsome, strong and extremely capable. He’s the best spy at the agency and everyone wants to be just like him. Dashing, smart and super quick on his feet he is the pride of the agency…

Story Line 1

Lance is, as I said, the hero of the agency… until he is accused of stealing spies. He was seen at the scene of the crime, it must have been him.

So, the main line of the movie revolves around Lance trying to recover secrets that his agency believes he stole. He needs to recover the secrets and stop the villain from using them to hurt people.

This main story line is pretty generic when it comes to spy movies so it’s the relationship with the second story line that really makes the movie.

Lance, the dashing spy hero in Spies in Disguise. Here he is posing with his fancy car, how cool is he!! He can't believe he has to team up with Walter to restore his name! — *Lance, the dashing spy hero in Spies in Disguise. Here he is posing with his fancy car, how cool is he!!*

Story Line 2

The other main character is Walter who also works at the spy agency as a tech. Walter is deemed a nerdy kid who is so low down on the totem pole that his “office” is outside a bathroom.

Walter is actually lovely, he is kind and caring and his dream is to make the world a better place. To help and save people, just like his mom did. His qualities are not really appreciated though when he is surrounded by people who want to be just like Lance…

Lance and Walter’s worlds collide and they become partners much to Lance’s frustration and Walter’s delight.

Tied in with the first story line is this story about Lance and Walter’s relationship. How “cool” Lance has to team with “weird” Walter and they have to rely on each other and trust each other’s ideas.

What I didn’t expect and what isn’t shown in any of the trailers I watched is what happens to Lance when he first teams up with Walter. It is hilarious and changes the whole direction of the movie. I don’t want to spoil it for you but it gives rise to most of the jokes and humour in the movie.

Walter is one of the main characters in Spies in Disguise. A tech kids who works at the spy agency. He teams up with the idealised Lance to restore the agency's secrets. — *Walter is just such a lovely kid, maybe just a little too idealistic or maybe not?*

The Good

A real spy movie for kids

Do you remember when they made all those spies movies for kids in the early 2000s – Spy Kids, Agent Cody Banks? They were okay and my son enjoys them but Spies in Disguise, even though it’s animated is way better.

The quality of this movie is superb. From the star actors, Will Smith as Lance and Tom Holland as Walter, to the excellent music and great big budget film making.

I suppose it’s similar to the quality of the Incredibles 2 but just that little better.

It very cleverly translates tech gadgets and spy concepts into a medium kids can understand and follow.

The pace of the movie is quick, the script and jokes fast and there is always something happening. This may make it a bit hard for younger kids to follow every line, joke or concept but it’s okay if they just get the gist of it.

The Themes in the movie

Most kids movies nowadays have a moral or a theme that run through them. All the good ones do. This movie has at least three main themes

kindness
friendship
non-violence

Kindness

The theme of kindness in this movie stems from the relationship between Lance and Walter, how Walter treats his pet and also how Walter approaches life.

At the start of the movie poor Walter feels like a complete outsider. He’s ignored and isolated. From Walter’s vantage point, we can easily see how unkindness can really affect how someone views themselves. This self view begins to change as Walter’s friendship with Lance develops.

Friendship

Walter and Lance’s friendship is very unlikely.

Through most of the movie you actually feel like the friendship is one-sided. Thankfully Lance finally comes to the party.

Non Violence

In this movie the major theme that is continuously reference throughout the movie is that of a non-violent approach to violence or threat. Now that is a massive concept to try explain to kids or to introduce in a animated movie. I may be able to think of a view movies where this was implied but never before have I seen it so expressly delivered.

It starts with Walter’s inventions, they’re all slightly crazy but based in non-violence. There is a hug that can protect you or glitter that can distract an opponent.

We see this extended in when Walter refuses to let Lance use guns or shoot at people chasing him.

And then it’s brought full circle when it turns out the villain was acting in retaliation to something Lance had done previously.

There is an overwhelming sense of “violence causes violence”. Interesting for a children’s movie hey!

The unlikely duo in Spies in Disguise - Walter the kind tech kind and Lance the dashing frontman. — *The unlikely duo in Spies in Disguise – Walter the kind tech kind and Lance the dashing front man, the face of the agency.*

While Lance takes a long long time to warm up to Walter as he does we see how a great friendship can form between people who seem to be so different.

The Bad

There are some aspects of the movie that I didn’t like and others that I thought made it a big scary for younger kids.

You’ll know from my previous posts that I’m quite (very) conservative about what my kids watch and read. So I understand for a lot of parents watching this with their kids that I may just be being critical.

The humour

I know body function jokes appeal to 7 year olds but there is a lot of this. I’m not sure all of it is necessary.

There is a bit of nudity and nakedness and even though it’s animated its not really idea. It’s quite gross actually.

There is a discussion on a “cloaca”. If you don’t know what that is, give it a google. If no result comes up, google “pigeon cloaca”, I’m not putting links into this post with that information attached.

You'd be surprised but this handsome blue bird is actually one of the main characters of the movie. — *You’d be surprised but this handsome blue bird is actually one of the main characters of the movie.*

Scary Scenes

Drone Warfare

The villain is able to call upon these robots to do his dirty work. They are drones that buzz around the place shooting lasers or dropping bombs from the sky.

In one of the final scenes it goes full spy thriller mode with all these drones launching. It may not be scary on its own but the screen is all dark and the music is going crazy. I think with the lights on it wouldn’t be as scary but in a movie house it would be quite overwhelming. My 7 year old was unaffected by it but the 5 year old literally jumped into my lap.

The Villain

The other scary part is the villain himself. As is to be expected of villains. But here it’s more conceptual.

The villain is able to change his face which may seem innocuous but for younger kids , can you imagine how scary that is. Conceptually, a face that pulls apart to reveal something else could give the odd nightmare.

I think the villain may actually have an Australian or South African accent, come to think of it. I’m not sure if that makes him more or less scary.

Age suitability

Spies in Disguise is one of those movies that teeters on the brink of appropriate for young school age children.

I am more conservative though. As you know. I worry about inappropriate humour, the nature of the villains and scary scenes.

This movie is suitable for kids older than 5 or 5 1/2 years at a minimum. At best I would think 6 is a more appropriate age. I think it may cause nightmares for kids younger than 5 and be a little to hard for them to contextualise some of the scarier or unnerving scenes.