Spy Kids ««½
PG, 88m. 2001
Cast & Credits: Antonio Banderas (Gregorio Cortez), Carla Gugino (Ingrid Cortez), Alexa Vega (Carmen), Daryl Sabara (Juni), Alan Cumming (Fegan Floop), Tony Shaloub (Dr. Minion). Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez.
There are a number of things parents will have to give up when they have kids. Among that list of many sacrifices is an uncomfortable thought. Sooner or later, the day will come when the child will want the parents to take them to see something the adults would otherwise, never pay to see much less have any interest in seeing.
I’ll have no problem, should the day ever come that I have kids, taking mine to see either a rated G or a mild PG movie. The question I’ll have though is, will this particular film be something I’ll enjoy watching as much as my children will. The debate today is not whether Hollywood is making enough movies for kids. The question is whether or not the pictures, other than a majority of what Disney releases on a yearly basis, appeal to both children and their parents.
A few examples of what kids like that I would clearly see myself wasting an hour and a half of my time on, not to mention my money, are the Pokemon and Rugrats movies. Therein lies the ultimate sacrifice.
Spy Kids is the latest example of such sacrifices. It’s a children’s movie all the way through. The only reason why parents would be seeing such a film is because their kids dragged them to see it.
On one level though, the film serves as yet another "curiosity piece" marking the departure for director Robert Rodriguez; a filmmaker who up until now, has made violent R rated action/horror movies (Desperado - 1995, the From Dusk Till Dawn – 1996 and The Faculty - 1998).
I admit seeing his directorial credit on a PG rated film was enough to peak my interest. Like The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000) before it, Spy Kids has its share of memorable moments.
The film features Antonio Banderas (Evita - 1996) and Carla Gugino (CBS’ Chicago Hope – 1994-2000) as Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez, two former spy agents, each from opposing sides who fall in love, eventually marry and have two kids, Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni (Daryl Sabara).
When the couple are lured out of retirement to take on another mission, they are captured by the brainless Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming), a host of a kid’s television show whom Juni idolizes. It’s up to Carmen and Juni to save their parents and the world from an army of robotic kids and giant walking thumbs.
Spy Kids is a James Bond movie for the under ten crowd minus the beautiful women. Ok. The film has one beautiful woman in the form of Teri Hatcher (ABC’s Lois and Clark 1993 - 1997) who claims to know the kid’s parents.
"Let’s not have any children," she tells Dr. Minion (Tony Shaloub), the real genius behind Floop’s operation after Juni lights her red hair on fire.
The mechanical gadgets cause the villains harm only to the point they are knocked out and not killed (the kids use electrical bubble gum, for example, to disable the thumbs). There is a giant sized fish that operates like a submarine and a microwave oven similar to the ones seen in the Star Trek television shows that can produce a McDonalds’ Big Mac and large fries on a moment’s request.
Cumming’s villainous Floop is like an evil PBS rendition of Pee Wee Herman who sings inspirational children’s lyrics like Barney the Dinosaur. His costume boasts almost the same bright colors as the Teletubbies and lives inside a giant shoe in the middle of the ocean derived from that old lyric, “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.”
Then there are those clumsy thumbs themselves whose head, hands and feet are just that; giant sized thumbs who prove just how worthless and uncoordinated they are without the other four fingers. They remind me of the stick figures seen hanging from the trees in The Blair Witch Project (1999) and the orange colored star looking symbols seen in those Cingular wireless commercials.
Mixed in between all the fighting and figuring out how to rescue their parents is the usual sibling rivalries Carmen and Juli have as older sister and younger brother.
“Mom, he’s mimicking me,” Carmen says.
“You don’t stop calling me names, I’m going to tell mom and dad you still wear diapers,” Juni says.
All this is kind of fun, sort of, but not enough to bring out the kid in me. When I think of movies I liked when I was younger and to this day still enjoy as an adult (some of which I own on either video or DVD), a handful of pictures come to mind. There is The Black Hole (1979), The Dark Crystal (1982), E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982), The Muppet Movie (1979), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Tron (1982), the Star Wars Trilogy (1977-1983), Superman (1978) and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971).
Spy Kids is a notch below those pictures. Kids will eat it up. As for myself, the only joy I got were the surprise cameos from Rodriguez’s past movies who appeared throughout the film.
©4/10/01
PG, 88m. 2001
Cast & Credits: Antonio Banderas (Gregorio Cortez), Carla Gugino (Ingrid Cortez), Alexa Vega (Carmen), Daryl Sabara (Juni), Alan Cumming (Fegan Floop), Tony Shaloub (Dr. Minion). Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez.
I’ll have no problem, should the day ever come that I have kids, taking mine to see either a rated G or a mild PG movie. The question I’ll have though is, will this particular film be something I’ll enjoy watching as much as my children will. The debate today is not whether Hollywood is making enough movies for kids. The question is whether or not the pictures, other than a majority of what Disney releases on a yearly basis, appeal to both children and their parents.
A few examples of what kids like that I would clearly see myself wasting an hour and a half of my time on, not to mention my money, are the Pokemon and Rugrats movies. Therein lies the ultimate sacrifice.
Spy Kids is the latest example of such sacrifices. It’s a children’s movie all the way through. The only reason why parents would be seeing such a film is because their kids dragged them to see it.
On one level though, the film serves as yet another "curiosity piece" marking the departure for director Robert Rodriguez; a filmmaker who up until now, has made violent R rated action/horror movies (Desperado - 1995, the From Dusk Till Dawn – 1996 and The Faculty - 1998).
I admit seeing his directorial credit on a PG rated film was enough to peak my interest. Like The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000) before it, Spy Kids has its share of memorable moments.
The film features Antonio Banderas (Evita - 1996) and Carla Gugino (CBS’ Chicago Hope – 1994-2000) as Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez, two former spy agents, each from opposing sides who fall in love, eventually marry and have two kids, Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni (Daryl Sabara).
When the couple are lured out of retirement to take on another mission, they are captured by the brainless Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming), a host of a kid’s television show whom Juni idolizes. It’s up to Carmen and Juni to save their parents and the world from an army of robotic kids and giant walking thumbs.
Spy Kids is a James Bond movie for the under ten crowd minus the beautiful women. Ok. The film has one beautiful woman in the form of Teri Hatcher (ABC’s Lois and Clark 1993 - 1997) who claims to know the kid’s parents.
"Let’s not have any children," she tells Dr. Minion (Tony Shaloub), the real genius behind Floop’s operation after Juni lights her red hair on fire.
The mechanical gadgets cause the villains harm only to the point they are knocked out and not killed (the kids use electrical bubble gum, for example, to disable the thumbs). There is a giant sized fish that operates like a submarine and a microwave oven similar to the ones seen in the Star Trek television shows that can produce a McDonalds’ Big Mac and large fries on a moment’s request.
Cumming’s villainous Floop is like an evil PBS rendition of Pee Wee Herman who sings inspirational children’s lyrics like Barney the Dinosaur. His costume boasts almost the same bright colors as the Teletubbies and lives inside a giant shoe in the middle of the ocean derived from that old lyric, “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.”
Then there are those clumsy thumbs themselves whose head, hands and feet are just that; giant sized thumbs who prove just how worthless and uncoordinated they are without the other four fingers. They remind me of the stick figures seen hanging from the trees in The Blair Witch Project (1999) and the orange colored star looking symbols seen in those Cingular wireless commercials.
Mixed in between all the fighting and figuring out how to rescue their parents is the usual sibling rivalries Carmen and Juli have as older sister and younger brother.
“Mom, he’s mimicking me,” Carmen says.
“You don’t stop calling me names, I’m going to tell mom and dad you still wear diapers,” Juni says.
All this is kind of fun, sort of, but not enough to bring out the kid in me. When I think of movies I liked when I was younger and to this day still enjoy as an adult (some of which I own on either video or DVD), a handful of pictures come to mind. There is The Black Hole (1979), The Dark Crystal (1982), E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982), The Muppet Movie (1979), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Tron (1982), the Star Wars Trilogy (1977-1983), Superman (1978) and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971).
Spy Kids is a notch below those pictures. Kids will eat it up. As for myself, the only joy I got were the surprise cameos from Rodriguez’s past movies who appeared throughout the film.
©4/10/01
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