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.

Spymate (2006): Dir: Robert Vince / Cast: Emma Roberts, Richard Kind, Chris Potter, Musetta Vander, Pat Morita: For those families who had the misfortune of sitting through garbage such as the M.V.P chimpanzee films, this new entry proves to be even worse. In fact, it is easily one of the worst family film ever concocted. Director Robert Vince hams it up with special effects that are about as fetching as a second grade art project. Chimpanzees are amongst the most intelligent animals on the planet and yet Hollywood throws them into the most unbearably bad films possible. Minkey the chimp is on a mission and unfortunately it doesn't involve leaving for a better film. Emma Roberts plays Amelia Muggins who wins a science award for creating a drill. Richard Kind plays the idiotic Dr. Farley, the world's leading scientist who wants that drill so that he can totally frig up Japan. He convinces the gullible Amelia to go to Japan where he will use her to fine tune this contraption. Chris Potter plays Amelia's dad who was once a spy alongside Minkey. Now he must come out of retirement to rescue his daughter. Musetta Vander plays Dr. Amour, Farley's former partner who cut ties when she learned his true intentions. She joins Potter for the rescue mission. Sadly, Pat Morita passed away after this foolishness where he trains Minkey in martial arts. This film should be used to test explosives. Score: 0 / 10

I watched this movie and while it could have been better, it could have been a LOT worse. The actors are not bad at all and the movie is quite well done; there are several rib-tickling moments and there's not a lot of gratuitous violence. It's not the greatest movie in the world but well worth watching.