Spy School

There is this thing that amateur screenwriters do, and inept directors overlook: they forget how people actually talk. Elementary school children don't generally speak -- to each other, to parents, or to authority figures -- like they were reading passages from a Victorian-era novel. Stiff dialogue every once in a while can be overlooked... but when every... single... line... of... dialogue is cringeworthy, it leaves one stunned that the film's producers didn't just decide to turn "Spy School" (a/k/a "Doubting Thomas") into a parody (think "Airplane") and leave it at that. This cliché-riddled film is also very clumsy with its details; e.g., Did kids in 2008 really know who Joe Namath was? Would a coach only be addressing 8 of his players for his NFL pregame speech? Did kids in 2008 really use the word "crud?" Is it realistic (or even appropriate) for a teen girl to put the moves on a lead character who looks like he's about 9 years old? (In fact, the film seems to have been written with older teens in mind... again, pre-teens just don't act like they're super-concerned about painstakingly and properly enunciating every awkward syllable of the oh-so-long words and sentences they've been hired to regurgitate.) And the title? One-third of the way in to the film, and (mild spoiler) not a "spy" in sight. "Spy School" ("Doubting Thomas") is a tortuous watch.

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.

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.

Note to everyone on the cover the kid has all these cool gadgets on him and it looks like hes kid James Bond who goes to school to learn to be a spy. It is nothing like that. It's about a kid who lies all the time and in the end he learns that lying is bad and saves the world...by lying so.... yeah. Wasn't boring tho. Then again I was five when I watched it.

This movie has it's flaws, but despite all that i enjoyed it. Forest Landis is a hoot and Anna Sophia Robb is as cute as can be as a tom boy. Not a great flick by any standard but it's still a fun flick. The teacher with the fake bee hive hair and the one armed phys ed teacher are just off the hook. Just relax and enjoy the ride.