I don't know if it's easier to make a really fun film with 110 million dollars, or only 35 ... but the powers that be in Hollywierd surely trust the low-budget multi-talents of Director Robert Rodriguez. Now, most movie makers stay within their genre, but not Rodriguez. He has found his success in three genre's AND their sequels. And Rodriguez continues to stick to his guns, overseeing nearly every aspect of his films. And why not? ... he made a name for himself with a neighborhood film called, El Mariachi, with only $7000. Three years later, Hollywood gives him 7 million to retell his story. He moves effortlessly from the action bloodbath of Desperado films to the horror vampire genre with the From Dusk till Dawn series.

How anyone in the industry, much less Rodriguez, saw the potential for him to make a fantasy family film ... is beyond my comprehension. But what I do know is Spy Kids was developed from one of the segments in the 1995 sleeper, Four Rooms. The film blended the talents of four of Hollywood's hottest new directors, each shooting one story set in one very bizarre hotel. Rodriguez's segment, The Misbehavers, featuring Antonio Banderas, would inspire the Spy Kids franchise 6 years later.

While the characters have been softened a bit, since their debut, Spy Kids is pure fun for the whole family reviling any big budget Disney fare.

Spy Kids

Spy Kids begins with a bedtime story about two super spies who fall in love, get married and settle down to leave their bond-ish lives behind. What the children don't know is the bedtime story is true ... and is about THEIR own parents. And while the Cortez family seems content in their all too normal lives, the kids don't think Mom and Dad are very cool, and the parents yearn to be cool again.

All that changes when the adults are called back into spy action. It seems someone is kidnapping their fellow secret agents, and it's up to Gregorio and Ingrid to find them. Fegan Floop is a popular children's television host behind it all, tinkering with FoOglies, thumb-thumbs and his newest creations - Spy Kids. Thumb-Thumbs are robots that are all thumbs - literally. FoOglies are captured secret agents mutated into bizarre play doe creatures. But their brains have turned into mush, and the robotic Thumb-Thumbs and the new army of robotic children are lacking the one thing to make them perfect ... a brain.

This is where the Cortez kids finally discover what the secret lives their parents have lived. As their Uncle Felix comes to baby-sit, Thumb-thumbs are sent in to raid the Cortez home, searching for the mysterious "3rd Brain.". Uncle Felix frantically admits the truth to Juni and Carmen, as they are quickly shuffled off to make their escape.

Never send an Adult to do a Kid's job! Gregorio and Ingrid are captured, and it's up to their children to find a way to rescue them. But they will need help from Gregorio's estranged older brother, Machete, to get into Floop's fortress before their parent's minds are turned into FoOglie mush.

The dialog is witty and sharp, one that adult fans of Rodriguez's other works will immediately recognize and appreciate. I burst out laughing some of these lines, and wished other "family" films could be written like this. Spy Kids doesn't let it audiences sit mindlessly along a kid's adventure, and there are surprises right through to the very end. This was just a joy to watch, and I cannot wait to see the sequels!

The Spy Family:

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  • Gregorio Cortez, the Spy Dad - Antonio Banderas (The 13th Warrior)
  • Ingrid Cortez, the Spy Mom - Carla Gugino (The One, She Creature, and starring in her own series this year as Karen Sisco)
  • Carmen Cortez, the Spy Daughter - Alexa Vega (Tom Clancy's NetForce)
  • Juni Cortez, the Spy Son - Daryl Sabara
• Felix Gumm, the Cortez family baby-sitter - Cheech Marin (the infamous Cheech of Cheech & Chong, Yellowbeard, Ghostbusters 2, From Dusk Till Dawn, Paulie, and watch for him in the new sitcom, The Ortegas)
• Machete, Gregorio's older brother - Danny Trejo (Doppelganger, Anaconda, Bubble Boy, Nightstalker, all the Spy Kids films, all the From Dusk Till Dawn films including the third: The Hangman's Daughter, all the Desperado films including the upcoming sequel, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and watch for him in next year's fourth installment to The Crow films, The Wicked Prayer)
• Fegan Floop, secret agent mutator under the guise as children's TV show host, and Juni's idol - Alan Cumming (Jose and the Pussycats, X-Men 2's Nightcrawler, and watch for him in next year's Phantom of the Opera)
• Alexander Minion, Floop's evil henchman - Tony Shalhoub (Addams Family Values, Men in Black films, Gattaca, Paulie, Galaxy Quest, Thir13en Ghosts, and of course, Monk)
• Mr. Lisp, Floop's top financier who wants an evil army - Robert Patrick (the infamous T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Fire in the Sky, The Faculty, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, John Doggett of hit series, The X-Files)
• Ms. Gradenko, the Cortez spies boss - Teri Hatcher (Lois Lane in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman series, SciFi Channel's Momentum)
• Devlin, the funny cameo - George Clooney (the only actor in this film that I vividly remember when he was a terrible actor, he's come a long way over the last decade: From Dusk Till Dawn, Solaris and returns in Spy Kids 3-D)

Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams

Introduces us to Ingrid's parents, Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma is a former cat burglar, and Grandpa the former detective who captured her ... and her heart. They both ran off to become international spies themselves, now seemingly enjoying their retirement.

The President's young daughter, Alexandra, takes her dad's top-secret gadget, the Transmooker Device, on a crazy amusement part ride called, The Juggler. The Juggler is the wacky creation of Dinky Winks. The Spy Kids are sent in to rescue Alexandra. But the whole family soon gets back into the action when the new head of the OSS, Director Donnagon Giggles, sends in his own children into secret agent action, Gary and Gerti. As the adventure turns to a mysterious island, the rival Spy Kids race to save the world from a mad genetic scientist, Romero.

Romero has been tinkering away with the cross breeding of various animals for his, Zoo Too. But his experiments have taken a life of their own, and Romero is feeling trapped in a cage of his own design. The Cortez's and the Giggles now must battle these strange creatures: lizard/snake (Slizzard), pig/sparrow (Spork), HorseFlies, CatFishies, BullFrogies and of course, Centaurs.

Can the Spy Kids save the world from an madman with the power to shut down all electricity on the planet?

• Grandfather, of the Spy Kids - Ricardo Montalban (Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, infamous Mr. Roarke of television's Fantasy Island, and of course my fav, Khan of Star Trek's tv episode, Space Seed and The Wrath of Khan film)
• Grandmother, of the Spy Kids - Holland Taylor (an amazing body of work - but for this genre, George of the Jungle, Strange Frequency, and recent CBS series, Baby Bob)
• Donnagon Giggles, new Director of the OSS and dad to new super spies, Gary and Gerti - Mike Judge (the bizarre creator of animated series, Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, and Office Space)
• Gary Giggles, eldest rival spy kid - Matthew O'Leary (Mom's got a Date with a Vampire, an amazing sleeper Frailty, and watch for him in the upcoming, The Alamo)
• Gerti Giggles, younger sis and new spy child - Emily Osment, younger sibling of Haley Joel
• The President of the U.S.A. - Christopher McDonald (The Black Room, The Eighteenth Angel, and The Faculty)
• Alexandra, the President's daughter - Taylor Momsen (Cindy Lou Who of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Gretel of Hansel and Gretel)
• Romero, mad gene-splicer and kept keeper of the Zoo Too - Steve Buscemi (Tales for the Darkside: The Movie, Ed and His Dead Mother, Escape for L.A., Armageddon, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and Monsters, Inc.)
• Dinky Winks, wacky inventor of amusement park - Bill Paxton (Night Warning, Mortuary, Impulse, The Terminator, Weird Science, Aliens, the sleeper vamp classic Near Dark, Brain Dead, Predator 2, Monolith, Apollo 13, Frailty and look for him in next year's The Thunderbirds)

Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over

Yep, you need to watch this with those silly cardboard glasses, red on one side, green on the other. In Game Over, the main characters from the two previous films all join in the action against a video game called, Game Over.

In the 3rd installment, we are introduced to the rival Giggles' mom, Cesca, and Dinky Winks Jr. Plus a new villain, Toymaker, who is bent on controlling the world by brainwashing the planet's kids through his video game called Game Over. Toymaker is a former OSS agent, who betrayed the agency in a fiasco that crippled the Spy Kids' Grandpa.

Carmen is sent into Game Over under deep cover to help the Beta Testers play the game, and thwart the Toymaker and his evil virtual reality. But becomes trapped, along with Toymaker on Level Four of the game.

• Cesca Giggles, mom to the rival spy kids and wife to Director Donnagon - Salma Hayek (the infamous Santanico Pandemonium in From Dusk Till Dawn, The Faculty, Dogma, the 1999 re-make of Wild Wild West, and look for her to star in one of two possible film versions of the classic series, Ultraviolet)
• Dinky Winks Jr., son of amusement park host, Dinky Winks - James Paxton, son of Bill, of course, in his debut
• Toymaker, evil genius with a split personality disorder - Sylvester Stallone (normally I wouldn't bother listing the credits of anyone earns these bizarre salaries, but he did do softcore porn once and had the guts to beat Hollywood down to make and star in Rocky, Demolition Man, one of my favs Judge Dredd, and Antz)

Meanwhile, Juni had retired from the OSS, to start his own private detective agency. But when he learns of his older sister's capture, it's up to Juni to save her. It won't be easy, he must seek the aide of other gamers, including the Beta Testers, to help them all get to Level Five:

• Demetra, gamer who only has eyes for Juni - Courtney Jines
• Arnold, the best of the best gamers, who believes Juni might be "The Guy" who can them all to Level Five - Ryan Pinkston
• Rez, as Juni's antagonist, doesn't believe Juni is "The Guy" - Robert Vito
• Francis, another Beta Tester who is just happy to follow the rest - Bobby Edner
• A Cameo Gamer - Elijah Wood (Back to the Future Part 2, Deep Impact, The Faculty, and forever Frodo in The Lord of the Rings trilogy)

Release Date: July 25th, 2003

http://www.spykids.com/