‘Spies in Disguise’ wrings a lot of humor out of a very absurd idea

Posted on January 3, 2020

By MARK VIOLA

When I look back on 2019, I will consider it a solid year for animated films, with such offerings as “How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” “Toy Story 4” and “Frozen II.”

I likely won’t think about the year’s final animated offering, “Spies in Disguise,” but that’s not to say the movie wasn’t a pleasant holiday surprise with solid voice work from its two leads, combined with a funnier-than-expected script that also refrained from pulling some punches to help up the stakes.

This story follows Lance Sterling (Will Smith, “Aladdin”), who is not only the world’s best spy, but he’s also very aware of that fact. His action-filled life hits a snag, however, when his latest mission goes awry, making some in the agency suspect he might have switched sides. Complicating matters further is science technician Walter (Tom Holland, “Spider-Man: Far From Home”), whose latest experiment turns Lance into a pigeon. Yes, you read that right.

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