SPIES IN DISGUISE
Clever, witty animation with action, sacrifice, and light concerns.
Should You Watch It?
You can take your older children to this one with confidence. Spies in Disguise is clever and witty, with exciting action, well-written dialogue, and a strong emphasis on helping and sacrificing for others.
The main concern is its message about fighting evil. Walter believes people can solve problems and stop evil without deadly force, while Lance insists that evil does not care whether you are nice. The film clearly favors Walter’s peaceful approach. Brief potty humor, animated violence, and a gender-related transformation also call for parental discernment with younger children.
For middle schoolers and up, Spies in Disguise is worth the trip.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESLance Sterling is an egotistical secret agent who fights bad guys for the United States government. Walter Beckett, a geeky scientist, prefers creative gadgets to weapons.
When Lance is accidentally transformed into a talking pigeon, his crime-fighting work becomes much harder. Matters grow worse when a villain disguises himself as Lance and puts the agent’s reputation in jeopardy. Lance and Walter must work together to clear his name and stop the real threat.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is excellent family entertainment, and the film earns that rating through its lively blend of comedy, action, and clever writing.
The dialogue is witty and well written. The action is exciting and comical without losing the movie’s lighthearted tone. Will Smith and Tom Holland make a dynamic duo, and Reba McEntire is enjoyable as the head of the secret agents.
The Worldview
Spies in Disguise presents a light moral and redemptive worldview. It stresses friendship, helping others, and sacrifice for others. Lance begins with an extreme ego, but he ultimately realizes he has become too proud and conceited about his accomplishments.
The film’s main worldview disagreement concerns weapons and force. Lance believes evil must be fought directly, while Walter argues that refusing deadly force allows people to come together, solve problems, and stop evil without causing much harm. The movie takes a politically correct, somewhat pacifist position on this question.
The film also includes a male protagonist who is turned into a female bird before being changed back into his normal self. That choice may raise questions for some families, though the transformation is presented as part of the movie’s comic premise.
The film’s emphasis on helping and sacrificing for others aligns with the biblical call to love sacrificially: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Light moral, redemptive worldview stressing friendship, helping others and sacrifice for others, with some light politically correct elements where a character believes “there’s a good way to stop the bad” and ultimately convinces the protagonist that it’s the best means to solve problems by peaceful means instead of using harmful weapons, and in one scene the male protagonist turns out to have been turned into a female bird, but gets changed back into his normal self
Foul Language
Character says “my butt” and begins to say SOB but drifts off, a pigeon vomits, a character mentions the need to use a rectal thermometer, and potty humor where character urinates and falls into the toilet after
Violence
Animated violence, characters appear with guns, characters fall off tall buildings, car chases, and fighting
Sex
No sex, female pigeon character coos at a male pigeon, male kisses his other male friend on the cheek to thank him
Nudity
Upper male nudity in a few scenes, male character’s rear shown, implied full male nudity but it’s not shown
Alcohol Use
Characters drink martinis in a few scenes to mimic the James Bond stereotype, villains drink beer in a bar in one scene
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drugs but characters occasionally get shot with a dart that knocks them out;
Miscellaneous Immorality
Character has an extreme ego but ultimately transforms and realizes he’s become too proud and conceited about his accomplishments, and a character refers to someone as a “god of asphalt” for his driving skills.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Lance begins with an extreme ego but learns that his accomplishments have made him proud and conceited. What helps you recognize pride in your own life?
Proverbs 16:18 · Philippians 2:3–4Walter wants to stop evil without causing lasting harm. How should Christians think about courage, justice, force, and protecting others?
Romans 12:17–21 · Matthew 5:9The film emphasizes helping and sacrificing for others. Who has helped you, and whom might God be asking you to serve?
Galatians 6:2 · John 15:13Lance and Walter must learn to work together despite their differences. What makes cooperation difficult, and how can humility change a relationship?
Ephesians 4:2–3 · Philippians 2:4The Final Word
Spies in Disguise is clever, funny, exciting, and built around helping others and sacrificial service. Its pacifist approach to fighting evil, brief potty humor, animated violence, and gender-related transformation call for discernment with younger children. For middle schoolers and up, it is WORTH THE TRIP — MIDDLE SCHOOL AND UP.
