Spy Kids 2: Die Rückkehr der Superspione

On my estimation, this movie maintained what made the first one a good family movie: fun for kids while bearable (maybe even fun) for adults. The feature also shines in its presentation of family, and how to work things out.

If you have seen the trailers, and read the reviews you have an idea of what is in it, so I will not dwell on that. One thing I have not seen elsewhere and I recommend is that you stay on your seat when the film appears to be over, there are quite a few extra treats during and after the credits.

Another winner in Robert Rodriguez' budding `Spy Kids' franchise, equally as good as the first and showing real potential for the future. Rodriguez is perhaps the only filmmaker of kids' movies that seems to actually listen to what kids want and in the process delivers something every family member can indulge in--it's as delicious as chocolate, with plenty of giggles aimed at the seven to ten crowd and dazzling ideas and humor that parents can appreciate. Rodriguez has an extremely fertile imagination and while his visuals sometimes can't keep up (the digital effects are an occasional letdown) the concepts themselves are so ambitious and delightful that it's easy to look past the brief technological shortcomings. As in the first film, there are plenty of references to family films of the past (most notably `Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory' and the stop-action animation of Ray Harryhausen) and the overall design of both films is very similar. (Rodriguez seems to prefer shooting at twilight, giving everything an orange hue.) But it does seem more expansive, perhaps because he's creative enough to incorporate welcome new characters, such as the kids' grandparents (played with relish by Ricardo Montalban and Holland Taylor) and another brother-sister spy team (Emily Osment and Disney Channel favorite Matthew O'Leary) as well as fresh retakes on characters from the first film (Steve Buscemi takes on the Alan Cumming role). Rodriguez' screenplay once again takes on the theme of family but this time it's carried poignantly throughout (it got dropped rather quickly in `Spy Kids') and the result, coupled with his extraordinary vision, is a film that will thoroughly satisfy just about everyone.

The first "Spy Kids" is an incredibly over the top but entertaining film for younger audiences and even though I still recommend this sequel I think that its just a little too over the top. Story is of course about Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni (Daryl Sabara) who have become top spies for their agency but now they are in competition for the best jobs by another brother/sister spy team. A gadget called the Transmooger that can shut down any defense system is stolen from the President and Juni is blamed for his carelessness. The Agency sends Gary (Matthew O'Leary) and Gerti (Emily Osment) who are the children of Donnagon (Mike Judge) who is in charge of Operations so Carmen hacks into the computer and has the mission changed so that she and Juni are sent instead. They travel underwater to an island that is invisible and inhabited by strange looking creatures but they have to hurry because Gary and Gerti will be showing up eventually to get the Transmooger that they are trying to find as well. The meet Romero (Steve Buscemi) who is hidden underground because he was the one that created all the creatures and he thinks they want to kill him. Meanwhile, Gregorio (Antonio Banderas) and Ingrid Cortez (Carla Gugino) are in pursuit to find their children along with the help of Grandfather (Ricardo Montalban) and Grandmother (Holland Taylor).

Not only did Robert Rodriguez direct this film but he also wrote, edited, produced, scored and did the production design. I'm sure he did other things as well and this shows that he remembers his days as a poor independent filmmaker with this type of self reliance. Rodriguez has a wild imagination and its not uncommon in his films for him to throw everything at an audience but the kitchen sink. This film is chock full of digital effects and at times it bordered on being more animated than live action. As much as I enjoyed the first film I always told people that I thought it would be even better if the story was more simplified. Have the kids in more realistic situations like James Bond but instead we got a cartoonish film with walking thumbs and gadgets that even Bond himself would laugh at. Here in this sequel it goes even more over the top with such outlandish situations that even Indiana Jones would be clueless. I couldn't decide which was more incredible, the giant monsters on the island or the fact that parents were sending their small children out on dangerous missions to save the world! Another thing I noticed was the sister of Haley Joel Osment who plays one of the other spy kids. It may be too soon to judge her but after watching Emily Osment's performance in this film she should beg her brother for acting lessons. She has an eternity to go. I am recommending this film for its wild imagination and high tech energy and their are some nice tributes to the great Ray Harryhausen but if they continue to make these sequels they might want to think about simplifying the stories.

With slightly larger spies, this relatively young series had to grow up a little, taking on more mature jokes and story, but the all the elements of the first film are still evident. The sister- brother fighting, the fantasy-based story details, the wild technology, and of course, the importance of family are all stressed once again amidst the chaos and the outrageous action sequences. While the special effects don't quite mesh well with the live action, the outlandish references to The Clash of the Titans proved to be hilarious (if you find that kind of thing funny). Anyway, this film proved to be a little better than the first, considering young actors Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara feel a little more natural in their roles as super spy siblings. While the whole Spy Kid network seems a little far fetched, at least it is a movie one could take their kids to without the repercussions of too much violence or sexual content.

Sibling secret agents Carmen (Alexa PenaVega) and Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara) rescue the President's bratty daughter Alexandra. Siblings Gary (Matt O'Leary) and Gerti Giggles (Emily Osment) are competing fellow OSS agents. Donnagon Giggles (Mike Judge) is promoted to director of OSS over Gregorio Cortez (Antonio Banderas). Juni is blamed for losing the Transmooker device and fired. The device is tracked to a mysterious island off of Madagascar. Gary and Gerti are assigned by their father to go to the island. Carmen and Juni arrive on the island on their own. They discover their gadgets don't work and the island is filled with weird creatures. Their parents Gregorio and Ingrid (Carla Gugino) set off to rescue their kids with Ingrid's parents (Ricardo Montalbán, Holland Taylor) as stowaways.

Robert Rodriguez continues his kiddie franchise with everybody returning for the sequel. I continue to like the arguing Cortez siblings. I also like the Giggles as their foil. Rodriguez stays with his wild CGI style. There are some Ray Harryhausen-like touches such as the creatures and the warrior skeletons. I think some Rodriguez fans judge this franchise too harshly for being kids movies. This franchise exists as its own thing and should be enjoyed as such.