| Spy Kids | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Robert Rodriguez |
| Produced by | Robert Rodriguez Elizabeth Avellan Bob Weinstein Harvey Weinstein |
| Written by | Robert Rodriguez |
| Starring | Alexa Vega Daryl Sabara Rowan Blanchard Mason Cook Antonio Banderas Carla Gugino Jessica Alba Joel McHale |
| Studio | Troublemaker Studios |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films (1-3) The Weinstein Company (4) |
| Release date(s) | 2001 – present |
| Running time | 272 minutes |
| Country | United States Mexico |
| Language | English Spanish |
| Budget | $154 million (all four movies) |
| Box office | $464,669,520 (all three movies)[1] |
The Spy Kids series is a series of family action adventure films created by Robert Rodriguez. The main plot follows the adventures of two Cortez children who become involved in their parents' espionage. The rest of their family are spies as well, including their estranged uncle Machete and maternal grandparents. All four films tend to have a strong Hispanic heritage theme, as Rodriguez is of Mexican descent, though the dialogue is predominately in English. McDonald's released Spy Kids toys in Happy Meals by the time all four films were released.
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10 years before the first film, there was a period of enormous political turmoil. Fearless agents were recruited for espionage missions against enemy spies. Gregorio Cortez and Ingrid Avellan (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) were enemy spies assigned to kill each other, but instead they fell in love and married. After an atypical wedding, they took a break from espionage and started a family.
After retiring from espionage for ten years, Gregorio and Ingrid are pulled back into duty for their important assignment, despite the fact they were out of practice, and were captured. Their two children, Carmen and Juni (Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara), discover the truth of their parents' past, which they had neglected to tell them because they were afraid that if they knew, they would picture danger at every corner; and decide to rescue them. On their first mission, Carmen and Juni manage to bring around their estranged uncle Machete (Danny Trejo), a genius gadget inventor and Juni helps to redeem Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming). Together, Carmen and Juni thwart the ambitious Alexander Minion's (Tony Shalhoub) plans to develop an army of androids resembling young children for a mastermind named Mr. Lisp (Robert Patrick). The robots based on Carmen and Juni became part of Floop's show.
As agents of the OSS, Carmen and Juni face particularly hard competition with Gary and Gerti Giggles (Matt O'Leary and Emily Osment), the two children of a double-dealing agent Donnagon Giggles (Mike Judge), whom Carmen and Juni helped to rescue from the first film. Juni gets fired from the OSS after fighting with Gary over a smaller version of the transmooker, a device that can shut off all electronic devices even though it was Gary who started the fight. Juni loses his spot for the best kid spy of the year award. Donnagon wants to steal the transmooker to take over the world. On their second mission, Carmen and Juni follow the trail to the mysterious island of Liki-Liki which is home to Romero (Steve Buscemi), an eccentric scientist who tried to create genetically-minaturised animals, but instead ended up with his island inhabited by mutant monsters. Eventually, Donnagon is fired and Gary suspended, and the transmooker is destroyed. Juni is offered his job back, but in order to take a break from the OSS, he retires to start his own private eye agency.
After retiring from the OSS, Juni is thrust back into service when Sebastian the Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone), an evil mastermind, creates a video game called Game Over, which hypnotizes its users. Carmen was sent on a mission to disable the game, but disappeared on Level 4. With the help of his maternal grandfather, Valentin Avellan (Ricardo Montalban), who uses a wheelchair, Juni is sent after Carmen and helps her to disable the game in order to save the world. It is revealed Sebastian was the one who disabled Valentin in first place. Instead of avenging his former partner, Valentin forgives Sebastian who is redeemed.
The OSS has become the world's top spy agency, while the Spy Kids department has become defunct. A retired spy Marissa (Jessica Alba) is thrown back into the action along with her hateful two stepchildren, Rebecca and Cecil (Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook), when a maniacal Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) attempts to take over the world. In order to save the world, Rebecca and Cecil must team up with Marissa. Carmen and Juni have all grown up and will provide gadgets to Rebecca and Cecil. Juni comes out of retirement to help.[2]
List indicator(s)
- Italics indicate a cameo.
- A dark grey cell indicates the character did not appear in the film.
| Character | Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spy Kids | Island of Lost Dreams | Game Over | All the Time in the World | |
| Carmen Cortez | Alexa Vega | |||
| Juni Cortez | Daryl Sabara | |||
| Gregorio Cortez | Antonio Banderas | |||
| Isador "Machete" Cortez | Danny Trejo | |||
| Fegan Floop | Alan Cumming | |||
| Alexander Minion | Tony Shalhoub | |||
| Ingrid Cortez | Carla Gugino | |||
| Felix Gumm | Cheech Marin | |||
| Donnagon Giggles | Mike Judge | |||
| Gary Giggles | Matt O'Leary | |||
| Gerti Giggles | Emily Osment | |||
| Valentin Avellan | Ricardo Montalban | |||
| Helga Avellan | Holland Taylor | |||
| Romero | Steve Buscemi | |||
| Dinky Winks | Bill Paxton | |||
| Devlin | George Clooney | George Clooney | ||
| Mr. Lisp | Robert Patrick | |||
| Ms. Gradenko | Teri Hatcher | |||
| Alexandra | Taylor Momsen | |||
| President of the United States | Christopher McDonald | |||
| Toymaker | Sylvester Stallone | |||
| Francesca "Cesca" Giggles | Salma Hayek | |||
| Demetra | Courtney Jines | |||
| Arnold | Ryan Pinkston | |||
| Francis | Bobby Edner | |||
| Rez | Robert Vito | |||
| The Guy | Elijah Wood | |||
| Waterpark Girl | Selena Gomez | |||
| Rebecca Wilson | Rowan Blanchard | |||
| Cecil Wilson | Mason Cook | |||
| Marissa Wilson | Jessica Alba | |||
| Wilbur Wilson | Joel McHale | |||
| Timekeeper | Jeremy Piven | |||
Spy Kids was heavily influenced by James Bond films. Director Robert Rodriguez says the first film was the "Willy Wonka and James Bond mix" and the second was the "Mysterious Island and James Bond mix"; by this pattern the third film could be described as the "Tron and James Bond mix". Technology in the films is almost always portrayed as looking friendly, and a bit cartoonish.
The spy organization featured in the films is called the OSS. The initials seem to have been derived from the Office of Strategic Services, a former American intelligence organization during WWII which later evolved into the CIA. Note there is a character named Donnagon Giggles, after William Joseph Donovan, the director of the real OSS. What the initials stand for in the Spy Kids universe is never specified on screen, but, according to one of the books, they stand for the Organization of Super Spies.
One of the chief themes of Spy Kids is the unity of family. The films also play with the idea of children having adult responsibilities, and how keeping secrets from family members can have a negative effect on relationships. The first film also deals extensively with sibling rivalry and the responsibility of older children. It also has a strong sense of Hispanic heritage.
The second and third films were shot with High Definition digital video, parts of the third film using an anaglyphic process to create the 3-D effects. Audiences were given red/blue glasses with their ticket purchase in movie theatres. Four sets of these glasses were also included in the DVD release. The third film was also used as a test for a special Texas Instruments digital projector which is supposed to be able to project polarized 3D, a process that does not require the red-blue lenses.
The first film was a surprise hit, opening with $26.5 million and grossing a total of $112.7 million USD in North America and $35.2 million over-seas. The second film had a disappointing but still strong opening weekend of $16.7 million and a total of $25 million since its Wednesday launch. Overall, it grossed $85.8 million in North America and $33.8 million overseas. The third and final film opened with a surprising $33.4 million, but didn't quite live up to the first "Spy Kids" total gross. In the end, it grossed $111 million in North America. However, its over-seas gross was double either of the first two "Spy Kids" at $85.3 million. Altogether, the "Spy Kids" trilogy grossed over $450 million worldwide.
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | Cream of the Crop | |
| Spy Kids | 93% (123 reviews)[3] | 90% (10 reviews)[4] |
| Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams | 75% (129 reviews)[5] | 90% (10 reviews)[6] |
| Spy Kids 3D: Game Over | 44% (135 reviews)[7] | 75% (8 reviews)[8] |
| Spy Kids: All the Time in the World | 23% (56 reviews)[9] | 40% (5 reviews)[10] |
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