Spy Kids
National Film Registry
Carmen and Juni think their parents are boring. Little do they know that in their day, Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez were the top secret agents from their respective countries. They gave up that life to raise their children. Now, the disappearances of several of their old colleagues forces the Cortez' return from retirement. What they didn't count on was Carmen and Juni joining the "family business."
What critics thought
Robert Rodriguez's family adventure earned strong critical approval on release, with reviewers singling out its imaginative energy and genuine respect for its young audience. The gap worth noting is between that critical warmth and the cooler long-term audience verdict, suggesting the film's charms may have aged unevenly for viewers returning to it as adults.
“Movies like Spy Kids are so rare. Families are often reduced to attending scatological dumber-and-dumbest movies like See Spot Run--movies that teach vulgarity as a value. Spy Kids is an intelligent, upbeat, happy movie that is not about the comedy of embarrassment, that does not have anybody rolling around in dog poop, that would rather find out what it can accomplish than what it can get away with”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“It's entertaining and inoffensive, a rare combination in kids' films, which are usually neither”
Mick LaSalle·San Francisco Chronicle
“A full-blown fantasy-action adventure that also strenuously underscores the importance of family, Spy Kids is determined to take no prisoners in the under-12 demographic, a goal it sometimes dazzlingly achieves”
Lael Loewenstein·Variety
Genres
Action, Adventure, Comedy
Cast & Crew
DirectorRobert Rodriguez
StarringAlexa PenaVega, Daryl Sabara, Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alan Cumming
ComposerHeitor Pereira, Robert Rodriguez, Danny Elfman, John Debney
Spy Kids
National Film Registry
Carmen and Juni think their parents are boring. Little do they know that in their day, Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez were the top secret agents from their respective countries. They gave up that life to raise their children. Now, the disappearances of several of their old colleagues forces the Cortez' return from retirement. What they didn't count on was Carmen and Juni joining the "family business."
What critics thought
Robert Rodriguez's family adventure earned strong critical approval on release, with reviewers singling out its imaginative energy and genuine respect for its young audience. The gap worth noting is between that critical warmth and the cooler long-term audience verdict, suggesting the film's charms may have aged unevenly for viewers returning to it as adults.
“Movies like Spy Kids are so rare. Families are often reduced to attending scatological dumber-and-dumbest movies like See Spot Run--movies that teach vulgarity as a value. Spy Kids is an intelligent, upbeat, happy movie that is not about the comedy of embarrassment, that does not have anybody rolling around in dog poop, that would rather find out what it can accomplish than what it can get away with”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“It's entertaining and inoffensive, a rare combination in kids' films, which are usually neither”
Mick LaSalle·San Francisco Chronicle
“A full-blown fantasy-action adventure that also strenuously underscores the importance of family, Spy Kids is determined to take no prisoners in the under-12 demographic, a goal it sometimes dazzlingly achieves”
Lael Loewenstein·Variety
Genres
Action, Adventure, Comedy
Cast & Crew
DirectorRobert Rodriguez
StarringAlexa PenaVega, Daryl Sabara, Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alan Cumming
ComposerHeitor Pereira, Robert Rodriguez, Danny Elfman, John Debney