Review by J1 Reporter Sarah Ritterling

“Spies in Disguise,” a new animated movie released on Dec. 25, 2019, tells the story of a top spy, Lance Sterling, who needs the help of Walter Beckett, a dreamer who works in the gadget lab at the spy agency. 

When Sterling goes to receive help from Beckett because a man with a robot hand is using the spy’s identity, Sterling mistakenly drinks Beckett’s newly finished liquid after thinking it’s water. The liquid transforms a human to a pigeon, but Beckett does not yet have anything to change someone back to human. Sterling is left stuck as a pigeon, making Beckett’s help necessary in stopping the robot-handed man. Lance Sterling is voiced by Will Smith and Walter Beckett is voiced by Tom Holland.

The main takeaway from the movie was a society’s struggle between fighting with aggression or peace. Sterling’s view is that fire needs to be fought with fire, while Beckett disagrees strongly. He believes that a continuous cycle of fighting with weapons will exist until someone steps up and uses peaceful ways to end disagreements.

Beckett’s gadgets do not harm those they are used against. The movie can be a lesson to people that in the long term, peaceful options are best, as seen in the outcomes of the decisions the characters make.

Characteristics of the movie that I found weird are the location of the spy agency and some of the jokes. The agency is located under the water outside the Washington monument. It does not make much sense to have spies go there, but is a funny part of the movie. The animation keeps the audience interested, because it is well done and a lot is happening on screen.

I give the movie 4 out of 5 stars. It was funny, perfect for families who want to see an entertaining movie. The voices were great and the movie contained a positive message: peace is best achieved by changing our attitudes and actions from aggressive to kindness, no matter what the circumstances. You can see “Spies in Disguise” in theaters now.