Spies in Disguise

Spies in Disguise is the latest animated film from Blue Sky Studios, having just been released into theaters a few weeks ago. It features the voice talents Will Smith, Tom Holland, Rashida Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Reba McEntire, Karen Gillan, DJ Khaled and others. I honestly knew nothing about this movie going in, so I had no expectations. It was surprisingly good. Not great by any means, but compared to some of Blue Sky's other output like Ferdinand, Epic, Robots, and about 47 Ice Age movies, it was good. 

The basic premise is that a super spy named Lance Sterling (voiced by Will Smith) is framed for the theft of an assassin drone by the film's main villain (voiced by Ben Mendelsohn). Now on the run from the very same agency he works for, Lance seeks out a quirky inventor named Walter (voiced by Tom Holland) who accidentally turns the secret agent into a pigeon. Together this unlikely duo needs to avoid being caught, find a way to turn Lance back into a human, and stop the bad guy. 

The plot, while overall a bit formulaic, makes for a pretty fun movie. At only about an hour and forty minutes I thought the film felt a little too fast-paced but, it is targeted to children so it's not a huge surprise. Animation wise, no one is going to mistake this for a Pixar film but, I thought the movie looked pretty good overall and I liked some of the character designs.

 I don't recommend that everyone go out and see this movie. However, as a dad that loves James Bond and Mission:Impossible movies, I took my 7 year old son to see this and we both were able to get enjoyment out of it. 

I give this one a 3 out of 5

A Look Back At Men in Black

Released in 1997, Men in Black was a huge hit at the box-office. It was the #3 highest grossing film of that year, earning around $589 million worldwide and coming in just behind The Lost World: Jurassic Park. This success led to a franchise consisting of three sequels (you can check out my review of the most recent one, Men in Black: International HERE) and an animated T.V. show. So, how does the original hold up after 20+ years?

The film has a relatively simple and accessible premise; There are aliens living amongst us, and there is a secret organization known as the Men in Black in charge of monitoring and policing these aliens while they're on Earth. One of these senior MIB agents, Agent K (played by Tommy Lee Jones) needs to select and train a new agent. His choice is a NYPD officer named James Edwards (played by Will Smith) and, upon accepting, Edwards becomes Agent J. Of course this is a movie, and it's only about a hour and a half long, so Agents J and K soon find themselves in pursuit of a vicious alien with the fate of the entire planet at stake.

Overall, as a sci-fi version of a buddy-cop movie I think it works well. Most of the dialogue between Smith and Jones is fun and I think both actors turn in solid performances. The visual effects are a bit of a mixed-bag. While a lot of the make-up effects look great, some of the CGI hasn't held up as well but, none of it is distractingly bad. I think it's a pretty well-paced film, the Danny Elfman musical score is solid, and the whole movie is full of memorable moments and quotable lines.
I give this one a 3.5 out of 5