"Spy x Family" was a hit as soon as it broadcast, transcending the usual anime target demographics to become something everyone could enjoy. It didn't take long for a movie to come out; "Spy x Family - Code: White" came out just a year after the first season, with an American release to follow shortly after in 2024. I was optimistic for it to be an opportunity to elevate above the limitations of the tv series, especially for theatrical-level visuals and animation. To my surprise, it even got a prestige IMAX release in Japan, following a recent trend where most anime features were getting the same. To my greater surprise, America and Canada got a wide IMAX release of the film too... sure, it was in April, when there weren't many other films to compete with for the gigantic screen, but it was almost unheard of for this type of anime. This is how I saw it, and the film was indeed extended vertically to fit the IMAX ratio. After watching the movie, my biggest thought was: "Why?" "Code: White" does absolutely nothing to change the production quality, looking identical to an extra televised episode on a streaming platform. Nothing about the movie was updated for a theatrical presentation, let alone an IMAX one. The story is par for a short arc in the series. Characters aren't updated in any form, including Yor, who remains the cute housewife with unfounded fears that her fake husband will leave her, despite her cool secret life of an assassin. The movie even has clear editing cuts where it would be easy to split this into three tv episodes; I'm certain the film will be re-released in this format as part of a future season when the studio has trouble finishing new content in time. "Spy x Family - Code: White" is the most literal example of a committee deciding and saying to a studio "This anime was successful on television, you're going to make a movie. It's release date is set for next year. Go." To set up the plot for newcomers, the movie cleverly re-uses the series narrator to "remind" everyone of the basic premise: Loid, Yor, and little girl Anya make up a perfect little family, but each has a secret. Loid is a super-spy, Yor is an assassin, and Anya can read everyone's minds. For fans who have seen all of Season 1, they'll be fully caught up to watch, and even for new fans, watching the series is recommended to understand the basic relationships of some side characters. At the start, we learn Loid's long-term mission (the reason he arranged to adopt and marry) is replacing him, making it likely his family life is about to end. This sudden plot point is completely ignored until the final minutes of the movie, so it can be ignored. The rest of the movie is about Anya's latest school project: to bake a desert, which the school principal will judge. Loid knows the best desert is a slice of "Meremere" (pronounced "Merry-Merry"), and the family goes on a last-minute trip to a snowy resort town that serves the dish. This becomes more difficult than planned due to a rude army general, and things get more complicated still with a secret plot by that general to start an all out war, thanks to a secret message, smuggled in a piece of chocolate... which Anya accidently eats. Oops. One aspect where the story could have been improved would have been in the villain. Colonel Snidel. But while he is vicious (he sees no problem in slicing a girl's stomach open to retrieve the coded message), he's fairly generic and plain, no better than any of the throw-away antagonists from the series. The same could be said for his two bumbling henchman, one of which uses diviners of different forms, a good but quickly overdone gag. In a genre where a movie is only as good as its villain, this was simply "fine." There were so many other opportunities to improve the plot, such as weaving in a way for Loid to keep his mission and family through what happened in the snowy town, or giving Yor a related assassin assignment in the same location to correlate with the trip, or providing dramatic moments where the family is closer to learning each other's secrets. None of this occurs, and in fact, the increasingly extreme lengths the family goes through to try this arbitrary desert, without the family suspecting each other further, makes me think the series will never entertain the idea that they conflict with each other. 
This isn't all necessarily bad. "Code White" is like a warm cup of tea: plain, but familar, and fans of the series should be happy to enjoy it for what it is. Like the series, it's sweet, and frequently funny, especially as the family so easily wrecks havoc on board the army's massive airship. Within whatever time or budget limitations the production team had, they include small scenes to help differentiate the film. The standout is Anya's fever-dream featuring the God of Pooping (it's not great-looking animation, but purely for looking different to the rest of the movie, it's a welcome diversion). The CGI plane dogfight is well-choreographed. Loid gets a brief hand-to-hand combat scene with a neon colour-palette similar to the first Season 1 opening credits sequence, which looks cool. And Yor does get a big fight sequence with a random hulk machine-man, showing off her super-hero levels of agility. As far as animation goes, these aren't above the best of the tv series, but can rank "among" them, and within the film, are exciting and engaging. By the last act when the action really breaks out, I was just having fun.That leaves "Spy x Family - Code: White" as being harmless and fun, but largely unnecessary. It's only worth watching for passionate fans of the series, and for me, shows that the franchise is limited and that it might not be worth the time to continue following. Despite all of that, I'd still recommend it because of the inherent strengths of the franchise and how well it suits universal audiences of all ages. Even if it's expected, it's fun to watch anime's best dad, mom, and daughter in action.