it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Mike (Chris Potter) is in the spy business, even though he has a young daughter, Amelia (Emma Roberts). After a near disaster however in the Middle East, where he is rescued by his darling, sidekick chimp, Mike gives up his profession. Instead, he and his staff run a small circus, with the small ape as the star. However, can you keep a good spy down? Let's see. Amelia is very smart and she is recruited by a conniving, thieving scientist to work on a project with some glitches. Dad, not realizing anything is amiss, is glad to part with her for a day or so. But, its soon obvious that Amelia has been kidnapped and Mike has to gather the gang and so forth from the Caribbean to Japan to search out his daughter. Will he be successful? This is a fun family flick, with a nice cast and great scenery. Roberts, in one of her first big roles, is adorable, as is her dad and the precocious chimp. Yes, the story loses a bit of dazzle as it goes along but Pat Morita arrives to help keep the movie going. All in all, the flick is a very fine choice for a family night at the movies.

Going into this movie, I realized even before it started that I am not the audience for this kind of movie. I am an adult, and this movie was made for kids. While watching it, I did see why kids aged 8 or under might like it. The 10 year old girl is portrayed as being intelligent, there is plenty of slapstick, and what the chimpanzee is portrayed as doing will interest kids.So kids might like this movie. What will adults think? Well, I will admit that a few things impressed me about the movie. The production values, including filming in several countries, make the movie look slicker and more expensive than typical direct-to-video kiddie flicks. And adults will be impressed by what the chimpanzee trainers were able to do with the chimpanzee. But despite things like these, I found the movie heavy going. It's very simple-minded at times, almost insulting to the intelligence. The movie also portrays some foreign people in a somewhat uncomfortable way that's close to being racist. If parents rent this movie for their kids, I recommend that they exit the living room while their kids watch the movie.

I will say that I enjoyed this movie. Yes, it is a children's movie. I wont get your hope up too high, after all, it is a low budget movie. I was reminded of Lancelot link Secret Chimp (1970) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065309/) I would recommend viewing Spymate with the above to appreciate the advances in CGI (Computer Generated Imagery, and animation). See the animation company credits under the link "View all credits". What's it about? Think of it as pure fantasy -with such ideas as a black belt chimpanzee trained for spy work!?!! There are the familiar names of Chris Potter and Debra Jorup (That 70's show- Eric's mom) along with a few newer names to the movie industry.

I took my two kids aged 7 and 10 to see this movie. They seemed to enjoy it, but I found it to be one of the worst movies I have ever had to sit through.The plot seems okay on the surface - A chimp who works as a spy. However it all goes downhill from there. There are many silly twists, characters that just don't fit and situations that are completely unbelievable. The film was obviously made on a tight budget and it shows. Nothing seems even remotely real.The director has made a number of animal movies in the past, specifically the MVP (Most Valuable Primate) and Airbud movies. This is easily his worst yet.Save your money and go see ANY other kids movie.