Advantages: Cool, funny, fast-paced and not patronising Disadvantages: Plot thinner than a waffer thin mint
...and are retired from the spy biz. Enter one international plot to TAKE OVER THE WORLD, exit two parents. Kids must help save the day. Boom bang, the end. Details? Oh very well…
***Involved Plot
The spy-parents met and fell in love whilst assigned to watch each other, and having ickle babbies made them want to settle down – so they did. Now they live in a modest (ha!) home, with the nippers in question, Juni being afflicted with warts ... ...leader. They call them – Spy Kids. Do you see? They’re super-strong, and nastier than maggots in your corn flakes. Only problem is, they can’t talk. The one thing that can get them to be perfect little robo-brats is “The Third Brain”. Guess who knows where it is? Yup, the Spy Parents. After they are kidnapped by another of Floop’s twisted inventions – the Thumb-Thumbs (giant robot thumb-creatures – ...
peppersinclaire 15.11.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spy Kids Trilogy (Box Set) (DVD)
Advantages: Fast paced, action packed Disadvantages: Only really appeals to kids
...Curtis) to produce an interesting spy story with humour.
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.
Groegorio (Anthony Banderas) and Ingrid Cortez play spies on opposite sides ... ...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.
Although ...
Simoncook1 16.10.2001
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...They encounter a dodgy chief spy played (perhaps over-enthusiastically) by Superman's Teri Hatcher (although given the way she ends up looking, perhaps she can be forgiven), the supposed villian - a willy Wonka type children's TV character - and the real villians. The chases and thrills are well delivered and there's some great comedy. Of course the "pee" and "poop" jokes got the biggest lauchs from my lad, but there really were only 2 - this isn't ... ...laughs from grown-ups and kids. There are a few fights, but these are handled extremely well without being condescending. In fact they're done in a great, knowing way - "close your eyes kids, you won't want to see this". In America, the film is getting bonus points in reviews because the heros are all latino. That doesn't make much difference here, but the kids are cute without being saccharine and put on a great show. The other hot topic over there ...
sarah1 28.06.2001
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Advantages: Great performances by the two kids. Disadvantages: The words are pretty hard to hear during Floop's song.
...this time his wife's a spy as well, and the film's for kids. So that's okay then.
The film opens at bedtime in the Cortez household. Juni's (Daryl Sabara - His first film appearance) putting his anti-wart medicine onto his fingers, whilst his sister, Carmen (Alexa Vega - Twister) asks for a bedtime story. The one she gets told by her mother, Ingrid (Carla Gugino - Spin City, Snake Eyes), is the story of two spies from different countries who get ... ...Unbeknownst to her, the story is actually that of her mother and father, who gave up the spying game for a far more dangerous mission - that of parenthood.
Into the mix comes Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming - Goldeneye, God the Devil and Bob), the host of a number two rated children's show. It's a show that Juni thinks is fantastic, as such children do, but everyone else thinks is a load of old tosh. Anyway, we soon find out that Floop is supplying high-tech ...
thedeadparrot 19.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spy Kids Trilogy (Box Set) (DVD)
Advantages: Suitable for everyone, but unusually enjoyable. Take your kids and actually enjoy it yourself too. Disadvantages: A little saccahrin in places, but rises above this at the end/
Saw this with my two little girls and we all loved it, which is unusual to say the least. It was directed by the same guy that did Desperado and From Dusk till Dawn, but is totally suitable for all ages.
Great cast, especially the two young leads and full of special effects that look as good as any Phantom Menace or Mummy. The action scenes shine and manage to tread that fine line between being not too scary for kids, but enjoyable for adults, I ... ...this much and would consider going to see it on my own, which I have NEVER said before about a film I took my kids to see because THEY wanted to see it.
It has some surprisingly inventive moments, one of the characters uses giant hands as henchmen, the thumb being the head and the arms and legs the other four fingers in a fingerbobs type set-up, except they are the size of humans, and wear balaclavas in public to disguise their thumbyness. I presume ...
Raybid 22.06.2001 (24.09.2001)
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Advantages: Carla Gugino is excellent. Good special effects. Disadvantages: Poor script, poor plot, little humour, poor acting.
Spy Kids’ has been met with almost universal critical acclaim, and Miramax are so impressed with it, that a sequel is already in production, but it is hard to see why this is the case. Two retired spies Gregorio Cortez (Antonio Banderas) and his wife Ingrid (Carla Gugino, ‘Spin City’, ‘Snake Eyes’) are captured by Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming, ‘Goldeneye’), a rich and powerful producer of a children’s ... ...Grieco plays a slightly older spy than Juni and Carmen do in ‘Spy Kids’. My reservations about this film are almost irrelevant when one looks at the commercial and merchandising success of this film, as ultimately that is what is important. However, from an artistic point of view, I only hope that the sequel will bring a better script, a more inventive plot, and more imaginative acting.
Overall 3/10 ...
Alex1226 19.04.2001 (20.04.2001)
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Advantages: an entertaining 2 hours Disadvantages: a little dumbed down, but hey it's a kids movie!
...spirit and the look of Spy Kids has been frequently described as “Willy Wonka meets James Bond,” which is a pretty good handle despite its emphasis on known formulas and its failure to acknowledge what's truly innovative and creative about the project. Rodriguez has made a family movie with broad appeal to kids and adults alike, the rare kind of movie that doesn't dumb it down for the kids and won't embarrass grownups who come to see ... ...the film's wonderful array of spy gadgets, set design (courtesy of production designer Cary White and created and filmed right here in Austin), and overall focus on fun. Jetpacks shaped like kids' backpacks, a Super Guppy submarine pod that transforms into a boat, microscopic cameras, a robot army of walking thumbs, and a wild-looking mastermind named Floop (Cumming) who masquerades as a children's TV show host on a program populated by Fooglies, ...
naryan1 21.04.2001
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Advantages: Cool gadgets, great effects, well written, acted and directed. Disadvantages: Cutsie, mushy, lovey-dovey and sentimental. Not for adults.
'Spy Kids' is everything you'd expect from Robert Rodriguez, director of 'The Faculty', 'From Dusk Till Dawn' and his two versions of 'El Mariachi'. But this time its for the kids. Gone are the huge explosions, passionate love scenes and spraying blood, and replaced with two kids and some rather splendid special effects.
The plot, briefly, is that the world's best secret agents - played by Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino - have been captured on ... ...to save them.
That pretty much sums up the entire film. This hap-hazard rescue mission is frantic, bizarre, and rather twisted, reminding me quite strongly of Tim Burton's 'Nightmare Before Christmas' in places. Its topped to the brim with Bond-style gadgetry, with even Teri Hatcher playing a Bond-bad girl.
However, the film is diffinitely for kids. The performances from the two children weren't half bad, the effects were really very impressive, ...
Smith 22.06.2001
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Advantages: Universal appeal, famous names, good gadgets. Disadvantages: Not exactly one to go see with the mates!
...bored in their seats? Not Spy Kids. Whilst on the surface, it may look appealing to the under 12's, this film is one of those rare genres that really does appeal to all. With big names such as Antonio Banderas, Teri Hatcher, Robert Patrick and George Clooney, (cameo only), it immediately conjours to the taste of the elder generation. However, the storyline and plot is not exactly what one would expect - for the better. Whilst not wanting to give ... ...typical kids-beating-up-badguys kind of film, it's more about two children of secret agents who get roped into becoming spies to help free their kidnapped parents. With good special effects and a definate James Bond feel to it with some wicked gadgets, it also has a sense of a fantasy-surrealistic world with captured undercover agents who get mutated into weird kid's characters, which will make any adult feel like a child again. A must see for families, ...
Jarcor 01.06.2001
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Advantages: great gadgets, action, effects, humour, lots of fun Disadvantages: once it's over you want to see it again
...years on and we've got Spy Kids. the film has gone down a storm in the USA and it's easy to see why. The story is this. Two former spys (Antonio Banderas and Carla Guigno) fall in love and settle down and now have two kids-girl Carmen and the younger boy Juni. Some of the worlds best secret agents are going missing and it's up to the parents to come out of retirement and get to the bottom of it. Problem is they get captured. the man responsible is ... ...who has a kids tv show that Juni happens to adore. It turns out that a billionare Mr Lisp (Robert Patrick) has hired Floop to build a world dominating army of kiddy robots and the only person who knows how to make them work is the kids dad.It's left up to the kids to save the day with the help of some very cool gadgets. The film is 90 minutes of sheer fun. Floop is a wonderful character who has more interst in making his tv show a hit than world ...
utero 18.04.2001
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Advantages: Godd plot, lots of gadgets Disadvantages: Some cheesy comedy and the odd slpastick moment.
Well I was expecting some pants story line of an evil emporer trying to take over the world and then a group of kids from an elite gang stopping him. I was close.
An evil children's TV producer makes and army of children to destroy the world and 007 style agents have been sent to stop them but they have been turned into mere puppets of the evil TV broadcasts. Thats when Antonio Banderas and co. come into play. He and his wife have hidden it from ... ...to stop the evil vilain themselves but like the other secret agents they get caught.
The children are sent to a safe house in the meantime, where they find lots of cool gadgets and other stuff. This is when the 3rd brain comes into play. This unique "brain" can give the children army the intelligence they need to match there super strength and as it happens Antonio Banderas was the one who invented the brain, and by coincidence he hid it in the ...
Markp_00 23.07.2001
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Advantages: It is action packed Disadvantages: Story line is kind of bad
...of the three. If you want an action packed movie that is funny to, go get Spy Kids 2. It is perfect for a movie night. You will love it. I hope thatt you watch it. Don't take my word for it. Go watch it. ...
McCall 21.06.2004
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Advantages: good family fun Disadvantages: nothing really
This is a ridiculous movie...and I mean that in the best possible way. It is so charming and campy and aware of how silly it is. The adult actors are clearly having a blast being silly, and it's amusing to see Antonio Banderas basically poking fun at his own image. And the two child stars are really unorthodox looking and quite a bit of fun...not at all typical, which is refreshing. The movie has cute gadgets, fun effects and is seldom too suspenseful, ...
chilledbudwei2er 02.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Spy Kids Trilogy (Box Set) (DVD)
Advantages: funny Disadvantages: not sure what age group it is for
Spy Kids is an amazing film for children who are younger than teenagers but too old for baby films like The Rugrats. Spy Kids is a very exciting film, which builds up suspense right from the start. It leaves the reader the whole way through wondering what will happen to the two children involved-an older girl and a younger boy. The film was very unpredictable, which compared to other movies is quite admirable and original. The film tells the unique ...
somebodyrandom 02.06.2001
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Advantages: Great fun for kids Disadvantages: Slight unreality
I watched this film with a 6 year old, and a 12 year old, and both of them loved it! It is full of action and adventure, and at the same time it is full of family life and dedication of love. It tells a great story of how children can cope in many situations, and how it is normally the children who save the adults! However, this film could be one that sends a childs mind running wild! All children are looking for adventure and excitement, and this ...
jellylegs2002 17.04.2003
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