Spy Kids

You know those movies out there that you used to watch as a kid, over and over and over and over and over and over again? And you know almost every line from that movie? And then you don't watch it for close to 10 years and then you do and you realize that while you may not know the lines by heart anymore, you still know the movie beat for beat and you that stuff just doesn't go away? And when you watch it you're right in the suspicion that it probably isn't as good as you remember, but at the same time you are filled with enough nostalgia that you can actually sit through the corniness enough to give as much of an unbiased review?

No? Well... That's my experience with Spy Kids.

Every kid wants to be a spy. From Harriet the Spy, to hearing about James Bond but not actually seeing those movies because they're more mature movies than what you should be showing your kids, every kid wants to have the gadgets and go on adventures as a secret agent.

So when Spy Kids came out, it create a perfect medium for kids to live out that fantasy and go on an adventure like a spy that was rated PG. Now does that make it any good? And does it hold up?

Spy Kids starts with two kids by the name of Carmen (played by Alexa Vega) and Juni (played by Daryl Sabara) Cortez being told a story by their mother Ingrid (played by Carla Gugino). Ingrid's

story is of two rival spies who are sent to take the other out but fall in love instead and become a great spy team but eventually retire and settle down to have a family. Its no surprise that this story is Ingrid and her husband Gregorio's (played by Antonio Banderas) but they keep it secret from their kids.

Ingrid and Gregorio have retired from active spy work and instead work as consultants for the OSS (Organization of Super Spies). However, when a number of agents go missing, the two of them are called out of retirement to investigate the mystery of their missing comrades.

Of course the mission goes wrong and the two veteran spies are kidnapped by the devious Fegan Floop (played by Alan Cumming) and his sidekick Minion (played by Tony Shalhoub). This immediately put Carmen and Juni in danger as Floop wants to use them as leverage against their parents to uncover utilize a secret technology thought to be destroyed long ago.

This requires Carmen and Juni to go off on their own and discover the true identities of their parents as well as develop their own skills as spies to save their parents and stop Floop's plan to take over the world.

On face value, Spy Kids is a really, really simple plot. And the movie doesn't even do a subtle job and making sure you're following the plot. There is literally a part in the movie where Carmen is all but looking at the camera and says the exact conflict and resolution to the movie. This isn't me giving the movie crap for how simple it is, its a kids movie, its going to be simple. I just think its funny how simple it is.

Your main characters are your pretty typical brother and sister duo. As a kid I think I always just thought Carmen was just the annoyed older sister who didn't care about Juni until the end of the movie, but I'm actually realizing Robert Rodriguez actually does a good job at subtly hinting that these two love each other despite the fact that they annoy the hell out of one another. And watching this now, they actually do a good job at creating that brother sister relationship and it feels at least a little bit genuine.

Now these two's careers really didn't lift off after this franchise and I understand why, they're not that great of actors. Their lines are really cheesy and while I think they did their best, the acting is over the top and years later is a little whiny at times. However, for kids who aren't paying attention to that kind of stuff, it actually does a pretty good job at showing a normal sister brother relationship. While their acting is a little wooden at times, they really are able to carry this film for kids and I get why this franchise was so popular.

Of course when this movie was popular, McDonalds always had cool gadgets and the awesome toys for this movie and while that may sound like its just there for product placement, it worked out well because every kid wanted to be the spy kid, they wanted to go on the same adventure we saw on the big screen and if you could get anything close to the gadgets and hardware used in the film, that was pretty cool.

I think the movie did a great job at balancing a story that is a little bit over the top, acting that is a little corny, and a really cool set up kids could really enjoy. What's more is, Spy Kids is the kind of kids movie where there are a lot of jokes for the adults that I definitely didn't catch when I first saw this film. I won't say this is the kind of movie any adult really needs to go out and see unless they're playing drinking games with it, but if you have to watch it with some kids, you might still have a good time overall.

Overall, the movie gives a great message about family, bullying, and just being a kid. I think its worth checking out, if not for the sake of nostalgia if you grew up with this film like I did.

But those are my thoughts on Spy Kids. Did you watch Spy Kids as a kid? Do you think it holds up? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for future movies I should review. If you follow me on Twitter you can also get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. This is kind of a fun video showing the cast of these films then and now. Its kind of fun seeing the changes. Enjoy!