Spy Kids

2001 kid action movie

Rating: 12/20

Plot: Carmen and Juni don't even know that their parents are spies, but they are forced to play the spy game themselves when Mom and Dad are spynapped by an evil and eccentric genius.

First off, Danny Trejo is in this playing a character named Machete. So that's cool. I've gone ten years thinking that this is a pretty cool movie, especially for kids looking for an action movie to watch. Turns out that I was half wrong. This is a really dorky movie, and it's got some of the most annoying computer-generated special effects, effects that really make this seem like a live-action cartoon and just get in the way. Don't get me wrong. There's a creative spirit at play here that I do like. Any movie with this much color and with this many cool gadgets and bad guy cronies that look like giant walking hands can't be all bad. The leads give energetic performances. Antonio Banderas is as cool as can be, and Alan Cumming, even though he looks a little like Pee Wee, makes for an ok evil genius. The kids are as bad as you'd expect them to be, but they're not completely irritating. Well, actually that boy's hair is pretty irritating. I think it's CGI-hair. And Cheech Marin is also entirely CGI in this movie, I think. Anyway, the movie's kind of a mess. Rodriguez directs with vigor and makes an almost-fun movie here. It's just a tad bit too much.

For those of you who are fans of rich, Corinthian leather like I am, it should be noted that Ricardo Montalban is in two Spy Kids sequels.