Spy Kids

This is a somewhat unusual film; it's a children's film, but it doesn't talk down to its audience. And as an added bonus, it can be watched even if you are over ten. As the far too little-known short Bedhead, Robert Rodriguez has here created a film for children, featuring children... which doesn't treat them with the lack of respect for the smarts and sense of logic that they do already possess. Adults often forget what children are like, and think of them as 'less' than the grownups. Rodriguez gives them(and us) a film that allows them a similar status to adults. The film has stuff that will appeal to kids(spy equipment hidden in children's things) but it isn't offensive to us who aren't. While it is more directed towards those of the preteen persuasion, it doesn't aim so low as to feel stupid for us who aren't of said persuasion. The plot is pretty good, though I guess it's not all that original... and as usual with children's films, the kids are the heroes, which puts too much pressure on them, as a Danish film critic so perfectly put it. The acting is a usual high(as most of the actors are quite talented), no performances really let you down, even the (intentionally)overplayed ones. The characters, many of them fairly clichéd and thin, are all credible. As with many(most) Rodriguez films, pretty much all of those that he's written, himself... there are subplots and such, many of which are either overly easily resolved or not properly addressed. The humor is pretty good, I laughed out loud several points, rather unusual for children's films, and I was never insulted by the humor. None of it tries too hard to garner laughs, either. The special effects are quite impressive, and though it's still evident that it's Rodriguez' mini studio, it will fool you for the very most part. The action is quite intense and exciting, and like the humor, it's got Rodriguez' unique touch. Any fan of Rodriguez(such as myself, which is by far the main reason I watched this very film in the first place) will enjoy this, if maybe not to the same extent as one of his typical films. I recommend this to any fan of Rodriguez or any of the actors, and definitely most kids. Very much worth watching, even if you've outgrown childhood. Indulge your inner kid. 7/10

Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez are ex-spies who were at the top of their game until they met, married and decided to retire for their own mutual safety. Years later they have normal lives and have children who know nothing of any of this. When Gregorio learns of former colleagues vanishing, he looks into it, only for him and Ingrid to be captured by the evil Floop, whose children's television puppets are really mutants developed as part of building a private army for Lisp. With their parents gone and the alarm raised, Carmen and Juni learn the truth and are suddenly faced with having to rescue their parents.

You shouldn't come to this movie expecting it to be serious or logical because it really isn't. Instead it is silly, goofy and really very daft but still quite good fun for slightly older children and also for adults. The plot is pretty much summed up by the title insofar as you really need to know what is going on because it doesn't make much sense. The film is really about the kids becoming spies and playing with gadgets etc on their way to becoming heroes of a sort. It never takes itself too seriously and it draws humour from this approach well, making it easy to relax and watch because, yes it's silly, but at least it knows it is silly. The Floop creations are too silly to appeal to adults but will probably provide some laughs for kids but generally the film gets the tone right for both groups.

Rodriguez directs with his usual approach and I quite enjoyed the effect it had here because it does suit the silly, hyper material (which he also wrote). The effects are mainly good and it should work for most kids in the way that older boys like their gadgets and fantasy video games. The cast did it for me as well, featuring as it did a lot of people who've worked with Rodriguez before. Banderas and Gugino are both sexy and cool in the parental roles but it is Vega and Sabara who lead the film. Neither of them are typically "cute kids" and it helped me enjoy the film for them to be quite natural and buy into the material. Support is surprisingly classy and most of them work. I didn't like Cumming at all but that was more to do with his character; Shalhoub was OK, Hatcher was fun, Cheech pops up briefly, Patrick has a small role, Trejo is ever reliable and George Clooney puts in a small but amusing appearance.

Overall this is not a great film because it all nonsense but then, as a kids' film, it doesn't matter so much. The energy, pace and sense of fun covers up for the daft central plot and nobody seems to be taking it seriously. Surprisingly fun to watch, even for adults and worth a look.

SPY KIDS / (2001) *** (out of four)

By Blake French:

If James Bond married another secret agent, had kids, privately continued his life as a spy, became captured, and left his rescuing to his offspring, we would have the formula for Robert Rodriguez's new action adventure, "Spy Kids." Rodriguez normally directs harsher, more brutal movies, like "Desperado" and "The Faculty," but accustoms a slick style of adventure and humor in this film that exceeds past the level of any of his recent work. "Spy Kids" really does belong in some kind of James Bond picture.

As the film's writer, director, and co producer, Rodriguez does a lot more with the material here than we expect. The film has a stunning array of special effects, ranging from walking thumbs to a particularly imaginative experience in the villain's headquarters. Even the introduction has zest and intrigue: we meet a seemingly normal family of four, consisting of Ingrid and Gregorio Cortez (Alexa Vega and Antonio Banderas), and their children, probably middle school aged, Juni and Carmen (Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega). As the movie opens, Ingrid tells her children a nice bedtime story about two daring spies assigned to kill the other, but fall in love, get married, and retire. She prepares her offspring for bed and turns the lights off, walks to her husband, and explains she thinks it would be a good idea to tell Carmen and Juni their real identities as top-secret spies; the story Ingrid enlightened her kids with was true.

Rodriguez quickly sketched his characters, but his method is surprisingly effective; the movie starts out with fast-paced action and captures our attention abruptly and does not really lose energy throughout its running time. We learn the two married spies have retired from the business nine years prior, but their fellow OSS agents are disappearing all over the world, and thinks it to be the work of a kids TV show host named Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming in a very whimsical, fitting performance) and his assistant, Minion (Tony Shalhoub). The agents have been converted into clay-like animated characters held captive at his mega tech laboratory. Imaginative and interesting, if a bit cheesy.

Ingrid and Gregorio call their "Uncle" Felix over to watch the kids while they go out on their latest mission. Unfortunately, this mission could be their last; they walk right into a trap and are snared from beneath their toes. Felix receives a distress call, sends the kids to a "safe house," but is captured himself, leaving the responsibilities to the younger members of the family.

The story isn't cheap or silly, although some of the material tests our tolerance for far-fetched science fiction. The underlying motives here are also legitimate. The movie puts confidence in strong family values, honesty, and trust, but does not preach, lecture, or on the other side of the barrel, become lost in an utter mess of silly dog poop and passing gas jokes like "See Spot Run." The movie takes itself seriously, and is well written. We understand the character's motives. "Spy Kids" gets one thing painfully right, and that is the

relationship of the brother and sister. Their relationship is all too familiar in American households, where name calling and mean-spirited behavior inhabit offspring of both sexes. The petty little conflicts they feel strained and forced, giving this movie, otherwise somewhat mature, an immature sensation. This familiar stereotype is profoundly irritating.

"Spy Kids" is often exciting, funny, and almost always entertaining. It is not the kind of movie that parents should just drop their kids off to, however, but should stay for themselves to witness some of the most effective family movie moments in quite a while. In a time when family movies are completely disposable, "Spy Kids" proves itself to stand out from all the others and provide us with a genuine spy movie experience.

I really liked Spy Kids. I thought it was a very entertaining film, without taking itself too seriously. It was funny, intelligent and creative. What I mean by that, is that there is something for adults and older children as well as young kids. There was a fun script, that was intelligent and funny without being too artificial, and the direction from Robert Rodriguez was surprisingly effective. The plot is original, the thumb people were great fun, the action was fast-paced, the scenery was lovely and the special effects and stunts are splendid. And the soundtrack was awesome. The acting was very good, with Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara spirited in the two leads and their constant bickering was a delight. Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino have fun as the parents, while Alan Cumming and Tony Shalhoub come close to stealing the film as Floop and Minion. The film also has a nice message; my only complaints are the rather over-emphasised ending, and I did feel that Cheech Marin and Danny Trejo didn't have enough screen time to shine properly but I did enjoy their brief appearances. All in all, a very underrated and fun movie. 8/10 Bethany Cox

"Spy Kids" is one heck of a movie. Never have I seen a kiddie flick come along which is so clean, and yet still so entertaining at the same time. This odd blend of one of the best (The Matrix) and worst (Baby Geniuses) movies of 1999 is surprisingly exciting for something so "PG", and director and writer Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn) manages to create loads of fun while still keeping the violence level down.

He manages to do all this by being incredibly inventive with his special effects. "Spy Kid's" is a visual fun house of ideas which are all so playfully intuned with kids and their level of interest. He comes up with things such as movable thumb people and floors that fall apart like puzzle pieces. Rodriguez also has a lot of fun with this topic, putting in loads of high tech equipment and transportation, which offer kids and adults an incredible ride which is most always played for humor and thrills.

The basic set up for "Spy Kids" is this. Gregorio (Antonio Banderas) and Ingrid (Carla Gugino) were both spies working for different agencies, when a "hit" put out on each other brings them closer together. They decide to put away the spy work and live normal lives as husband and wife, and soon father and mother.

But the perfect family they dream about is far from. Their kids are keeping secrets from them, a trait from their former job that they feel they have passed on to their children. Their daughter Carmen (Alexa Vega) is skipping school, while Juni (Daryl Sabara) is being bullied at school and instead of telling his parents, just makes up a couple of imaginary friends.

They see how their past lives have affected their children, but before they can correct their wrong, their past catches up with them. They are thrown back into the spy game to investigate the capture of several other spies, but only end up being captured themselves.

The culprit also just happens to be Juni's favorite televison star, Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming). Floop is after a brain prototype that Gregorio created years ago. If he can implant that into the heads of his robot and mutant henchmen, nothing can stop him from taking over the world and becoming the number one rated show on TV. But his other human henchmen Minion (played dastardly well by Tony Shalhoub) has other plans. Back home, the feuding siblings must learn to work together in order to save their parents and the world as they are tossed into the spy game as well.

It seems as if the best kids movies always have a family-like theme to them, and "Spy Kids" is no exception. Much of this movie is exciting, but then there are those other parts, which are to cuteness what Charlie's Angels was to sexy clad women. Some may accuse Rodriguez of turning corny on us all of a sudden, but luckily he is also working with some very funny material here, as well as with newcomer Daryl Sabara.

His partner Alexa Vega also comes off very strong in her role as his sister. Together they are a very good crime fighting team, and I look forward to seeing them in upcoming sequels. Alan Cumming is also very good, turning in an absent minded Willy Wonka style performance that also fits in very well with Rodriguez's style for this movie, which seems to be based largely around an amusement park surrounding a James Bond movie.

His film may be corny for older kids, but this is for the young ones and chances are you will never find a movie as decent and fun for them as this one is for a long time. Out of four stars, Spy Kids definitely scores a three.