The "Spy Kids" series has been declining for years, with subsequent installments feeling stale and grating. The movies are for families, and sometimes by Robert Rodriguez, who often includes his own kids on camera and behind the scenes. The reboot, "Spy Kids: Armageddon," is a cheap-looking and cloying movie that lacks discernible improvement in quality despite technological leaps over the past two decades. Rodriguez's original claim to fame was his ability to accomplish a lot with a little, and now he serves as director, co-writer, producer, cinematographer, and editor. The result is a movie that will appeal only to very young kids, with too many preferable options available. "Spy Kids: Armageddon" follows the story of a family who are secretly spies, and when the kids discover their secret, they must save the day. The film features new characters, Terrence Tango and Nora Torrez, who tinker with an all-powerful Armageddon code. Their son, Tony, accidentally unleashes the code to tech billionaire Rey "The King" Kingston, who plans to use it for nefarious purposes. The film alternates between frantic slapstick antics and people explaining things to each other. The green-screen effects and lighting often have a flat sameness, and the spy movie features gadgets but aren't terribly inspired. The action drags, and then chaos ensues. The film's pacing is about 20 minutes too long, with no compelling sense of pacing. The film's premise is the same as the first movie in the series, but with new characters and a clever idea that the code becomes a virus requiring people to play a video game to fulfill mundane tasks. Rodriguez's films, including his 1992 low-budget indie "El Mariachi," celebrate Latino pride. The characters Tony and Patty must recite their names to gain access to an underwater safe house, reflecting their heritage. The film feels personal and welcomes fleeting touches. "Spy Kids: Armageddon" takes the basic sense of good vs. Evil and makes it a shrill, annoying frenzy, highlighting the importance of Latino pride in Rodriguez's films. The reboot of the popular animated series Spy Kids is set in Austin, Texas, where the Tango-Torrezes live in a device-laden pad. Their children, Terrence and Nora, are active super-spies with the Armageddon code, which can hack into any device. Tony and Patty, who just want to play video games, are frustrated by their dad's strict tech rules. The creator of the game, The King, is a mercurial tech baron who covets the Armageddon code to force every operator and electronic device to play video games. Tony and Patty are positioned to unlock secret codes and battle robot video game villains unleashed on their household. The battle for world domination is replete with fantastical tools and located primarily within the King's retro, chunky polygon-filled video game castle. Rodriguez maintains his ability to invoke a child's sense of adventure and absurdity more than two decades since the original. However, the franchise's futurist gusto has been lost due to the transition to Netflix aesthetic and whole-scale CGI. Netflix's Spy Kids demonstrates both the visual ambition and flatness of would-be streaming blockbusters, with the King's castle having video game pleasures but lacking the sense of depth or silliness of the older films. Spy Kids, a children's movie by Robert Rodriguez, has been a beloved franchise for generations. The original Spy Kids focused on children as heroes, not just tagalongs or mascots. The franchise has seen two direct sequels, a soft reboot/kinda sequel in 2011, and a short-lived 2018 animated Netflix show. Spy Kids: Armageddon, a reboot film, aims to recapture the magic for a new generation, focusing on viewers discovering the series for the first time. Rodriguez's original elements, such as gadgets, training, and campy special effects, are back in the revamped movie. Although the adult cast is not as captivating as in the first movie, Rodriguez and his son Racer co-wrote the script, giving the latest Spy Kids movie a timely message. The new film is meant for viewers discovering the series for the first time, ensuring the original magic remains evocative for a new generation.
Review of Spy Kids: Armageddon
Spy Kids: Armageddon
(2023)
Robert Rodriguez is back with a new cast, and new Story
25 September 2023