Adapting a well-loved anime for the big screen isn't always the easiest task. If a studio leans too heavily into their ongoing storyline, they risk isolating new viewers. Relying on a filler story, however, might bore long-term fans hoping to see the series' lore pushed to its limits. Spy x Family Code: White definitely leans more toward the latter, but director Takashi Katagiri and screenwriter Ichiro Okouchi both have enough experience with the series that they're able to perfectly capture what makes the characters likable while still ramping up the action to make full use of their theatrical budget.
Code: White begins with an excellent sequence that instantly puts the series' well-executed espionage action on full display, along with a brief explanation of the characters themselves. Loid Forger (Takuya Eguchi) is an experienced spy for the organization WISE whose mission revolves around maintaining peace between two fictional countries at political odds with each other. He accomplishes this by taking a wife, the assassin Yor (Saori Hayami), and enrolling their adopted daughter Anya (Atsumi Tanezaki) at the same school as the son of a notable political figure. Both Loid and Yor are keeping their identities secret from one another, but Anya knows everything due to her secret telepathic abilities. She's also the only one who knows that their dog, Bond (Kenichiro Matsuda), has psychic visions of the future.
Spy x Family relies more on comedy than on serious political intrigue, and Code: White is no exception. The setup for the film's main conflict occurs while the Forgers are on vacation to help Anya prepare for a cooking competition at school, and Anya's childlike love of dessert helps put her in the crosshairs of villain Colonel Snidel (Banja Ginga), who aims to start the same war that Loid is trying to prevent. Meanwhile, Yor is getting emotionally twisted by insecurities over her sham marriage while also winding up embroiled in a battle with an experimental soldier that puts her assassin skills to the test.
There's a lot going on, and the film doesn't always handle its pacing very well. Some of the exposition can be a bit clunky at times, but this makes sense when considering that much of the humor seems aimed at achieving a family-friendly feel, complete with a surprisingly well-done sequence about the god of bowel movements. Only Yor's fears that Loid may be sleeping with somebody else feel a bit out of place in a film that's otherwise rather child friendly.
Although some of the humor can come across as rather juvenile, this is never so excessive as to put off older viewers. It doesn't hurt that the action is exceptionally well-animated, especially as far as Yor's scenes are concerned. The studio made truly excellent use of their budget, and even the animation style itself is played around with at one point. On top of that, the film is rather mature on an emotional level. Despite the fact that each of the Forgers is keeping secrets from the others, it's never called into question that they genuinely care for each other. Every character gets a heartfelt moment, and not one of these moments feels unearned. It's actually rather impressive that the film manages to so beautifully win the audience's love for the characters in a film where the political fate of a nation is tied to a child's cooking contest.
Aside from a few pacing issues, the film's only major drawback is that its attempt at telling a filler story doesn't entirely work. Snidel's storyline attempts to intersect with Loid's primary mission without affecting the events of the series, but it's debatable whether the events of the film could truly resolve as conveniently as they do without long-lasting effects. Other than this, however, the film isn't largely meant to be taken too seriously. It's merely trying to tell a fun, enjoyable story for a couple of hours. On that front, it succeeds almost as beautifully as could be expected for both series fans and newcomers alike.