Oct 16, 2001 11:11 PM
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Throughout the years we have seen many thrillers and adventures involving spies. With James Bond perhaps being the most famous, there have been many different ways in which spies have been viewed. In an interesting twist to the tale Arnold Schwazzeneger joining up with his non-spy wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) to produce an interesting spy story with humour.
Many of these movies have concentrated on making the story and action as realistic as possible. In this movie we see the directors really trying to give a 'cartoon' or 'superhero' type feel in a similar way to Batman movies.
This movies is aimed as kids and thus much of the reality that is seen in these previous movies has been replaced by a combination of different styles ranging from slapstick to adrenalin pumping chase action.
Spy Kids
Spy Kids is a combination of many different cinematic types. We have James Bond / Inspector Gadget type gadget wizardry; we have theatrics that could be taken from classics such as the Adams Family, and for the American's out there we have Pee Wee Herman's playhouse as a background for the evil doers.
Gregorio (Anthony Banderas) and Ingrid Cortez play spies on opposite sides that despite having the assignment to assassinate each other have fallen in love with each other and retired to tackle the harder task of parenthood and marriage. This romantic notion seems standard for spy type movies.
They are forced out of retirement when many of their former colleagues disappear, their task to find out what happened. Unfortunately they are both soon kidnapped by the evil Fegan Floop, a children's host similar to Pee Wee Herman who also is an evil wizard. Floop seems to be a misguided Willy Wonker, more intent on his creations than the evil that they may perpetrate.
It is therefore left to their children Carmen and Juni to save the day and rescue their parents and all the other unfortunate spies who have been kidnapped.
Floop is experimenting with his wizardry; he has created many of the characters on his children's show by transfigurmorgering (OK so that's my word) people into cartoon like characters (now I wonder where all the disappeared spies could be?). As his experiments continue he somehow manages to create 500 super bionic kids that are extremely strong, quick and agile, the only problem being that they haven't got a brain.
Aha, but the Cortezs (parents) have a prototype super brain - twisty plot takes over a little - it seems that Mr Cortez was experimenting with super brains, one of his colleagues was fired for getting to interested in the brain - Mr Cortez was supposed to destroy the brain but kept it - now the colleague appears as an associate of Floop!
The Cortezs (Kids) begin their quest to find their parents. We see many different gadgets used as they seek to thwart the evil Floop, and also have to face their own evil Doppelgangers. Much of the action is bizarre and weird, with some 'thumb' men chasing them at times in high-speed chases. Much of the action is meant to be funny as the directors try to combine slapstick comedy and thrilling action. Some of the useful gadgets include exploding gum, corrosive crayons, jackets that are jet paks etc. (This movie is also much like a computer game!).
My Opinion
First and foremost it must be remembered that this is a kids movie. Thus the plot is very convoluted and unbelievable, many of the characters are shallow and meaningless and the cinematography is very bright using many bright primary colours to add to the almost cartoony feel to the movie.
The movie is full of 'silliness' that is aimed directly at the children in the audience and it will undoubtedly cause many laughs and chuckles amongst your children. As a parent, I found the movie to be suitable for children with just the right amount of evilness, and no rudeness or foul language.
The plot is very straightforward and does move towards an obvious ending (although there is a twist or two along the way). The movie is action packed and will therefore keep children interested all the way through.
The gadgets were a little disappointing, most of them being simply children's versions of the adult spy gadgetry. It would have been interesting to have seen more 'Willy Wonka' type gadgets for the children to see.
From my children's reaction to this movie I rate it fairly high as it kept their interest and had them laughing at times; as a parent I found the movie to 'childish' for me - many movies of this type normally have some humour directed at the adults, this movie didn't really do that.
Conclusion
Although I wouldn't consider this as a great movie for families to go and watch at the cinema, it is definitely worth getting on video or DVD as it will be an entertaining addition to your children's movie collection.
The idea of the movie was good although not really that original, but I felt it was spoilt a little by a weak and flawed plot (parents perspective) making it a mediocre movie for adults.
