Spies in Disguise isn’t the best-animated film but it’s still a light-hearted and entertaining film. A lot of the jokes are stupid but they’re still super hilarious thanks to an eclectic mixture of physical and deadpan humor. The cute pigeons also add a lot of humor to the film thanks to their random stupidity. It’s juvenile humor but it doesn’t fail in getting you to laugh.
For the most part, the film tries to subvert all of the stereotypes you find in spy films. While Lance is your typical spy, Spies in Disguise switches things up by trying to introduce a pacifist element to the story. Walter’s insistence that violence only begets more violence is something that you’ll never see in an action spy film. It’s those contrasting philosophies that add to the depth of these characters.
The film spends a lot of time building the stories of Walter and Lance. As a result, you get some fully-fleshed characters that you can connect to. Both Lance and Walter have a fantastic friendship—despite their conflicting personalities.
Unfortunately, all this time spent on building our two main characters meant that the villain is left on the wayside. This is where the spy film tropes come back because most spy villains are one-dimensional and that doesn’t change here. There’s not a lot of backstory to him nor does he has strong motives. What’s there is thin and stereotypical for a spy villain. If you’ve ever seen Skyfall, then his backstory is somewhat reminiscent of Silva’s motives in that film.
Nevertheless, Spies in Disguise is an incredibly fun film that’ll entertain people of all ages. It’s not a perfect film by any means. Unless you’re Walter or Lance, all of the characters are essentially useless side characters. But it’s the friendship between Walter and Lance (and Lance’s pigeon friends) that makes this film a must-see for the whole family.
Movie Rating: 3.5/5 atoms
Video
Spies in Disguise hits Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG-AVC with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Animated films have enjoyed a fantastic video transfer and Spies in Disguise is no different. The picture has a great medium-high contrast which leads to some high brightness and dark blacks. The whites pop from the screen without any bloom whatsoever. This is something you can see in the glitter bombs. At the same time, the picture has a wide grayscale which gives us blacks ranging from a deep black to a light black.
Thanks to the colorful nature of the film (and Walter’s gadgets), there’s an incredible spectrum of bright and bold colors in the film. However, there are some visible color bandings—especially in the reds during the scenes within the villain’s lair. Also, the edges are slightly soft too. Now, regardless of that, the picture looks so clear as each intricate spy details are as clear as day. It’s so clear that you can see the film’s film grain. Overall, this is a pretty great video transfer.
Video Rating: 4.5/5 atoms
Audio
Spies in Disguise hits Blu-ray with a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. The audio mix for Spies in Disguise is as fun and playful as the film itself. The mix has an entertaining and playful dynamic sound that’s accurate to the scene itself. This is something that you can hear in the Venice pigeon scene. The mix also features an immersive and enveloping sound design that’s both distinct and accurate. Theodore Shapiro and the various original songs are layered and dynamic as well. Unfortunately, because of the hectic nature of the film, there isn’t a ton of quiet scenes to showcase any atmospheric effects. There’s a few but there aren’t many. Despite all of the playful chaos in the film, the dialogue is still audible and never gets drowned out. Overall, this is an entertaining audio mix.
Audio Rating: 5/5 atoms
Special Features
Spies in Disguise‘s Blu-ray disc has the following special features on the disc:
- Super Secret Spy Mode In-Movie Experience
- Infiltrating Blue Sky Studios
- The Top Secret Guide to Gadgets
- “Then There Were Two” Music Video
- “Freak of Nature” Music Video
- Making the Soundtrack “Then There Were Two”
- Making the Soundtrack “Freak of Nature”
- Gallery
- Theatrical Trailer
“Super Secret Spy Mode” is a “Pop-Up Video” style Easter eggs and behind-the-scenes information about the film. There’s a good amount of information given in a fun way and they don’t go over the film in order to do it.
“Infiltrating Blue Sky Studios” is a fun “Disney Channel” style featurette where we have a child hosting the featurette wrapped around a skit. Despite the labeled as a “Disney Channel” style featurette, the behind-the-scenes featurette is surprisingly in-depth with the way it breaks down every stage of the animation process. “The Top Secret Guide to Gadgets” is a featurette that takes a look at all of the gadgets used in the film. It’s geared towards kids but if you’re mildly interested in the gadgets, you should check it out.
The two music videos are self-explanatory while “Making the Soundtrack” is something that you usually don’t see in the bonus features—a behind-the-scenes look at the making of these two songs. Of course, these features were strictly made with YouTube and social channels in mind, but it’s something you really don’t see every day.
Special Features Rating: 3/5 atoms
Overall, Spies in Disguise is a light-hearted spy film that’s fun for the whole family. Although there are slight discrepancies with the video, the video still looks great. The audio mix sounds amazing, but it’s unfortunate that the special features are a bit lackluster.
Overall Rating: 4/5 atoms
This Blu-ray was reviewed using a retail/advance copy/unit provided by Fox Home Entertainment.
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