Spies in Disguise has a genuinely interesting methodology put forth revolving around the core ideals of teamwork, and non-lethal measures. Or at least it has that in the opening 5 minutes and closing 10. In between it has a pigeon instead. I don't mean "The pigeon thing is so ridiculous that it distracts from it", I mean they drop it altogether for the lion's share of the runtime because "WILL SMITH VOICES A PIGEON HAHAHA!" And sure those early concepts were laid on a little heavy while they were there, but this is a kids' movie, nuance isn't mandatory. It also didn't help that literally every single supporting character (but most especially Ben Mendelsohn's "Robot Hand") were far more likeable than either of the leads. Buuut it was okay. Okay. At a stretch. Okay. At best.
More than anything though, I just want to know if somebody goes into this without any idea of what the story is actually about, does it hit you as hard as the trailer did? Like is this From Dusk till Dawn for pre-teens?
Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.