"Spy Kids" is the new movie written and directed by Robert Rodriguez, the guy who wrote and directed "El Mariachi" and "Desperado" and directed "From Dusk Till Dawn" and "The Faculty." His movies are usually very violent, but it seems like he wanted to make a movie that he could take his kids to see. As soon as I saw "El Mariachi," his first feature-length film, I was an instant fan of his, and I've seen all of his movies since then. I've never been disappointed by his work, but because of the genre switch, I was skeptical about "Spy Kids." I shoulda known better. Once again, Robert Rodriguez released a very entertaining movie, one that I enjoyed quite a bit. It's not perfect, but yeah, I liked it.
There are a lotta directors out there who like to stick with the same actors and actresses. Robert Rodriguez is no exception. In "Spy Kids," Rodriguez, once again, uses Antonio Banderas, Cheech Marin, Robert Patrick, Danny Trejo, and another one, but it's a cameo, so I can't say who that person is. The one person who's MOST expected to be in Robert Rodriguez's movies is absent this time around. I'm referring to Salma Hayek. I guess she was busy working on another movie or something.
"Spy Kids" is definitely a movie for kids, and that means that the actors have to act in a certain way... mostly, they have to overact. And they do. They really ham it up, but that's fine. It's appropriate for this type of movie. The acting in this movie is fine by all of those people I mentioned in the last paragraph, and the others were good, too. They include Carla Gugino (who has lost weight and looks SPECTACULAR), Alan Cumming (a great actor who plays a character who is a surreal combination of Willy Wonka and Pee-Wee Herman), Teri Hatcher (she's getting older, but she still looks great), Tony Shalhoub, and the two kids who play the spy kids, Daryl Sabara (feature film debut) and Alexa Vega (Miami girl... she played Helen Hunt as a child in "Twister").
Though he doesn't do the score for the entire movie, at one point, you can hear music that's obviously by Danny Elfman. See if you can pick it out.
Although "Spy Kids" is purely a movie for kids, it does have some pretty freaky things in it, but not to the point where it's too much for kids to take... unless they're total wusses.
The
humor is juvenile, the plot is simple and far-fetched, and at times, the
movie gets really stupid, but I still liked "Spy Kids." I was
entertained, it was cute, and I know that if I was 10 years old watching
this movie, I would walk out swearing that it was the best movie I've ever
seen.
Scale
of 1-10: 7