Spy x Family Code: White

"Loid" is a top secret operative working on "Operation Strix" - and that requires him to establish the credentials offered by a fake family. To that end he is married to the nimble "Yor" and they both bring up their telepathic daughter "Anya" and mind their dog "Bond". So far, it's a bit like "Mr & Mrs Smith" as neither parent knows of the perilous activities of the other. Now her school principal likes a pudding, and so when a school competition encouraging pupils to cook something for him is announced, the family decide to travel to a small town where "meremere" is prepared (looks like a sort of meringue). Along the way, the curious "Anya" discovers a locked casket on a train which she easily opens to discover it contains a chocolate sweet. Yep, you've guessed - but wait! This delicacy turns out to contain a secret microfilm that is being sought by folks who would use it to undermine the peace between east and west and start a war. Now the story rather turns into "Sky Captain" (2004) and their search for the ingredients of their cake - and his secret mission - takes them into the skies and into a series of combative escapades that sees bullets, bombs and even experimental guided missiles flying about all over the place. I'd never heard of the original television series and was a little reluctant to see this in a cinema as so often these films just build on characters about whom I know little. That's not the case here. This is a solid stand-alone story that doesn't require prior knowledge of anyone to get into it, and that serves it well. The animation is quickly paced and each character (even the dog) has a role to play as the adventure hots up. The plot is not exactly original, no, but there's some fun to be had as these characters deliver an adventure that avoids repetitive combat scenes and after a slow start is well worth a cinema outing.

Agent Loid created a fake family to accomplish his mission, but little did he know that each family member had a secret. His fake wife, Yor, was an international assassin, their adopted daughter, Anya, was a telepath, and their family pet, Bond, could predict the future. Anya was the key to his mission, and she now had to win a school cooking competition, so the family vacationed to find the perfect dessert. While enjoying their time together, they unknowingly stumble into a military operation. They must resolve the situation while maintaining their secrets.

This is an anime movie that extends a running series. Watching the series before this movie will help clarify what is happening, but it is unnecessary. The movie does a great job quickly recapping the essential elements of the series and focusing on the story. The movie is funny, entertaining, and a bit on the mature side. If you are a fan of the series or just want to watch an anime movie, this is entertaining.

Spy x Family: Code White was the first anime movie I ever watched in theaters. Normally I'm not the biggest fan of anime show movies because they tend not to add to the series (they aren't cannon and can't expand on a story that well in such a short time), but this show utilizes the narrative of the past two series perfectly to execute a decent movie. Sure, some moments are a bit odd, especially the Anya's storyline with the bad guys, but for the most part, there were wholesome moments all around. It was faithful to everything else and had one or two stand-out moments. It's constructed in a way where even if you've never seen the series, you can still enjoy the movie, which I appreciate (even though I've watched both seasons - and so did my mom cuz she watched it too). The animation and action scenes are well choreographed. The movie felt more like an arc than anything else, but at the end of the day, I found it to be fine. It's not much greater than "fine", but it's certainly enough to get you by if you've been waiting for a season three. All characters not only showed up, but performed their roles well. 8/10 is very fair for the movie. While it was no-where near perfect and had a few weak points (regarding generic/plot convenient moments), the strong scenes where it counted the most were done right and with some pizazz. I will say it was nice to see Spy X Family on the big screen.

As a fan of the show I was curious how this would turn out. It starts off rather slow with an emphasis on the home and school life. The comedy, action, and plot don't really kick in until the end of act 2.

This might be my favorite portrayal of Anya in anything Spy X Family. Her expressions are very well drawn.

It has basically every character in some form and they play a slightly exaggerated version of there role from the show (for better or worse in the case of agent Nightfall).

This movie gets silly... maybe too silly. If you've watched the show or have watched any kind of anime (Nightfall's reactions) then... well even then there are parts that might be too silly for you. There's your regular anime extreme over acting, but there's a psychedelic scene that... Well it would be spoilers.

If you like the show I'd recommend it. If you haven't seen the show... Get ready for things to get out of hand very quickly.

"Spy x Family" is one of the silliest and loveliest anime franchises out there, because the premise - master spy sets up fake family with master assassin and adopted mind-reading orphan to get access to elite school - is utterly ridiculous and over the top. But because the characters are very well written, this is one of the most entertaining shows around. While the last season stalled a bit, the film goes from slow-burner opening to complete insanity in the second half. If you're a Disney+ victim, you will find this pure fun entertainment soothing, whether you know the series or not. However, if you have little tolerance for toilet humor or small children exposed to mortal danger, you'll find something to complain about - but that's fun for you, isn't it? So this anime action parody really has something for everyone.