Spy Kids (2001)
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Ingrid (Gugino) and Gregorio Cortez (Banderas), semi-retired government spies, are called back to the ranks following the demise of their erstwhile colleagues at the hands of kids' puppet-show host and techno wizard Feban Floop (Cumming) and his assorted army. Ingrid and Gregorio disappear and the Cortez children (Vega and Sabara) have to don the jet-packs, slide on the computer specs and save the world. One-time rebel director Robert (El Mariarchi) Rodriguez treads a neat line, reversing a common (and mistaken) emphasis in kids' movies. He plays the danger/adventure lightly, and treats the garish design, environments, effects and various gadgets with the gravitas demanded by the young connoisseur. In terms of its family ethos, this makes an interesting comparison with the Addams Family films. Refreshingly, both portray a sexualised parental relationship and view family as a specialised enclave, within which audacity and independence are accepted. The plot deviations are endless and confusing, but children can handle that, no prob.Author: WH
Cast & crew
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Producer: Robert Rodriguez, Elizabeth Avellan
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alan Cumming, Teri Hatcher, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Robert Patrick, Tony Shalhoub, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, George Clooney full cast
Genre(s): Children's
Duration: 88 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.



What do you think?
Post your review now