Product Description

Bursting with an awesome array of ultracool, high-tech gadgetry, SPY KIDS delivers enough thrilling entertainment to satisfy the entire family! Nine years ago, top international spies Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) traded the excitement of espionage for the adventure of parenthood! But when they're called out on a secret mission, the Cortezes are separated from their family and kidnapped by the evil Fegan Floop. Fortunately, there are two people who possess the skills and know-how to reunite the family: Carmen and Juni Cortez, their kids! Your family will love every fun-filled second as Carmen and Juni bravely crisscross the globe in a thrilling quest to save their parents. All the while, they discover that keeping the family together is the most important mission in the world for kids and parents alike!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4457 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-09-18
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.com
Carmen and Juni Cortez will soon find out that their favorite bedtime story, "The Spies Who Fell in Love," is really the story of their parents. So begins this affable fantasy, a James Bond adventure for wee ones with all the trimmings. When Dad and Mom (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) mess up their first mission after coming out of retirement, their kids must come to the rescue, equipped with some cool gadgets. The Cortez family gets involved in a bizarre plot hatched by a Pee-wee Herman-type entertainer named Fegan Floop (a wonderfully hammy Alan Cumming) that's as giddy as it is ridiculous. Needless to say there is plenty of derring-do concerning long-lost uncles, goofy monsters, double agents, evil robots, look-alikes, and energized chases. Did we mention the gadgets? Although Banderas and Gugino make terrific impressions, the movie is carried (as it should be) by the younger Cortezes, winningly played by Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara. Who would have thought an action/horror studio (Dimension) and writer-director Robert Rodriguez had this pleasing family film up their sleeves? Rodriquez (who produced with his wife Elizabeth Avellán) seemed to be mired in cheesy horror films but here breaks out by capitalizing on the talent that gave him instant status with his debut, El Mariachi (1992). Spy Kids has plenty of verve but never swerves into potty humor (OK, there is one good potty joke) or wicked gunplay. All 7-year-olds should have a film as fun as this in their movie-going lives. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Surprisingly good
When I initially saw the previews for this movie, the only word that came to mind was 'yikes.' But after the film garnered good reviews, I opted to see it, and am extremely glad I did. The film is chock full of good special effects, imaginative sets and vibrant colors, not to mention well-developed characters and witty dialogue. The story opens with a bedtime story of two opposing spies who fall in love, and then marry and settle down to raise a family. The two spies, of course, are the two parents of the young protagonists in the story, Carmen and Juni. After their parents are kidnapped, the kids are forced to save their parents, and consequently the world from the evil Floop. Instead of making the parents dumb pawns in the plot, they are smart and can actually think for themselves. The kids are also independent and face their fears head on, making them perfect role models. Rarely, a movie like this comes along and is entertaining to the parents as well as the kids (The abysmal See Spot Run, for example is entertaining for no one). The film has action, a plausible plot and a ton of heart. This is a great family film.

A beautiful mix of action and whimsy; a gem!
I've been a fan of Robert Rodriguez from the first moment I saw "El Mariachi," and each successive film has just given me more reason to be a fan. With "Spy Kids," Rodriguez changes gears, giving us his first film for kids, and the first film where he finally gives free rein to the sense of whimsy and fantasy hinted at in previous films.

While the film is nominally a kid's film -- a surreal children's television show that makes the Teletubbies look mundane features prominently in the story -- the humor and action is genuinely good for all ages. At one point, pre-teen heroine Carmen Cortez says that no one knows what her uncle does for a living, and he moves around a lot, and is generally mysterious. To which her uncle replies "doesn't everyone have an uncle like that?" Well, yes, we do. :)

Beyond Antonio Banderas' star power -- and he does a very knowing self-parody of his own traditional parts in the movie -- other strong performances by "name" actors pepper the film, including Teri Hatcher, Tony Shaloub, Robert Patrick, Cheech Marin and -- one of those actors viewers know by sight, if not by name -- Danny Trejo.

Overall, the action is kinetic, the message sweet, the kids believable and not in the least cloying (a true rarity in film), and overall, the film is a great treat for Rodriguez fans who have been watching his evolution towards more and more fantastic material (something that seemed obviously in his blood ever since the climax of "Desperado").

Recommended for fans of Robert Rodriguez, spy film fans in touch with their inner child, and families of children ages 6 and up.

Cynics need not apply
Spy Kids is an interesting movie. It claims to be a kids movie, but is so awash in weirdness, that any young child might have nightmares about this. In that way it is similar to Willy Wonka, but then it is so different. Robert Rodriguez, best known for his hyper-violent films such as Desperado and From Dusk till Dawn, shows he is adept at handling light hearted and whimsical fare. Spy Kids is a sort of modern fairy-tale beginning with "Once upon a Time", and finishing with a happy ending. It is escapism for kids, and I was sucked in. What kid didn't want to have cool gadgets and be the hero. I know I did, and it reminded me of my childhood. It is refreshing to see a pure family film that takes risks with its viewers, Rodriguez isn't satisfied to keep the film within conventional techniques, he makes it a visual feast while not disorienting the viewer in anyway. On top of that, I found the bickering between the brother and sister to be really very funny; They definitely seemed like brother and sister, which was key of course. The supporting performances were uniformly excellent. Antonio Banderas and Alan Cumming both gave wonderfully eccentric performances. Overall, the movie was soaking in creativity and thoroughly satisfied me.