Spy School (2008)

That was an excellent one.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Boy, oh boy, does Spy School suck. Watching it was the most unpleasant movie-going experience I've had in a long time. It seems to be attempting to ride on the success of Spy Kids and other kid agent movies (Catch That Kid, etc.), but having been made in 2008, it arrived too late on the scene, as the public had already tired of that type of film. Even if it had been released in the right year, it still wouldn't have stood up to the aforementioned Spy Kids, because despite it's title "Spy School", the main character in the film is not a spy, nor does he attend a school for spies. In fact, there are no cool or interesting spy gadgets or software in the entire movie. There are a few horribly choreographed action scenes and that's about it in terms of excitement. In the beginning of the film we are introduced to Thomas, the main character, who is a complete jerk with no charisma whatsoever. He uncovers a plot to kidnap the President's daughter and so on. There are some pointless and tiresome love triangles, subplots, and moral pontificating that divert attention away from the "story"- and I'm using the word story here very loosely. Perhaps you think I'm battering this film too hard. It's just kids movie, after all, right? Well, I don't see how any kids would be entertained by this film. It has a convoluted plot that would be hard for a young child to follow, and barely any exciting sequences throughout. It's not engaging on an emotional level; plus the romance parts would probably be too mushy for children. There are so many better films for children out there. A big problem in the movie is the casting. The red-haired boy who plays Thomas is so unlikable that I grew to hate him by the end of the film. The President's daughter is played by this pudgy little girl who looks like the Honey Boo Boo child. The adults are all stereotypes and forgettable. The one bright spot in this movie is AnnaSophia Robb. They should have given her the leading role. Perhaps then this film would be more watchable.Anyway the plot builds to a climax that is so dumb when you think about it, that it's almost funny. Almost. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but a die-hard AnnaSophia Robb fan, and even then it'll take some willpower to get through this piece of trash.

Is it that bad? No, not at all. In fact, as a kids film it is above average. There are good films in all categories and this is a very outstanding one in its.First, it's a good family comedy. Surely parents will have a good time with their kids watching this. It is a nice little family film with a nice plot and there is something to learn from as well.Compared to the Spy Kids series, this lacks action and effects. But it makes up for that with an unpredictable plot, and I like that very much. The story development is smooth and the acting is good.Towards the climax in the end it gets pretty intense and there are quite some unexpected twists.To conclude, this is really an enjoyable piece of family comedy.

I won't get into the details, but this movie has the most ridiculous plot of any movie I've seen in years - even our 10-year old wasn't fooled by this story.Reasonably good actors, actually - the kids, anyway, the adult actors didn't really deliver... but even with world class actors you couldn't have pulled off this one, so you can't really blame them.Sheer amateur nonsense! Yikes!I don't know how this movie received a 5.1 rating - since it has only received about 200 ratings, I can only guess the kids who acted in the movie asked all their friends to rate it.

Spy School is a really good movie. Although it doesn't share the science fiction special effects of Spy Kids, it has a similar appeal. The camera work and the lighting are excellent. The plot is not predictable; there is actually a mystery going on here that kids and adults will enjoy. The kid actors are wonderful. There's even some cool music, including two renditions of Macho Man. Of course what would a teenage spy caper be without some crawling through the ducts, but that's forgivable. This is a great movie to share with your children. Nothing less than innocent here, don't worry. The most violence is a gun than never shoots and a guy falling a few feet off a ladder. Otherwise this is perfect entertainment for the entire family.