SPY ANIMATION HAS LOTS TO COO OVER...
DAMON SMITH ROUNDS UP WHAT’S NEW TO WATCH AT HOME, INCLUDING SPIES IN DISGUISE, A CAPER WHICH SEES WILL SMITH’S SECRET AGENT TURNED INTO A PIGEON
ORPHAN Walter Beckett (voiced by Tom Holland) finds his calling as a gadget geek at a US government-funded spy agency overseen by Joy Jenkins (Reba McEntire). Tuxedo-clad operative Lance Sterling (Will Smith) relies on the agency’s ingenious gizmos to carry out his daredevil missions. Unfortunately, boo-hiss bionic criminal Killian (Ben Mendelsohn) outwits Lance and the spy is wrongly accused of treason.
Lance becomes a fugitive and inadvertently drinks Walter’s experimental biodynamics concealment potion, which morphs the suave agent into a pigeon.
A “rat with wings” might be the perfect disguise to sneak up on Killian.
Spies In Disguise is a madcap computer-animated comedy that won’t surprise anyone old enough to have witnessed Daniel Craig’s bruising forays as James Bond.
The script proudly promotes Walter’s individuality as a badge of honour and indulges in heavy-handed emotional manipulation to resolve the young man’s deep-rooted feelings about the loss of his mother (Rachel Brosnahan).
Scriptwriters Brad Copeland and Lloyd Taylor trade predominantly in familyfriendly sweetness even when they resort to toilet humour to explain the multifunctional wonders of a pigeon’s cloaca.
Pyrotechnic-laden action set pieces are executed with assurance and Smith and Holland deliver energetic vocal performances as the impossibly lithe spy and dorky dreamer, who team up in unusual circumstances.
Mendelsohn is short-changed as the film’s deranged arch-villain – he’s all bark and no bite – so the stakes never feel unsettlingly high, even when the script borrows a move out of the How To Train Your Dragon handbook in search of a tear-jerking crescendo.
■ Download and stream from April 20 on Amazon Prime Video/BT TV Store/ iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other services, and available from April 27 on DVD/Blu-ray.