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Spy Kids review

We review Spy Kids - an absolutely first-rate family movie from writer/director Robert Rodriguez

Spy Kids poster

Spy Kids

Certificate: PG

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara

Release date: 2001

4 out of 5

4

Spy Kids is an absolutely first-rate family movie from writer/director Robert Rodriguez (better known for far more grown-up films like Sin City and Desperado). Young Carmen (Vega) and Juni (Sabara) think their parents are boring. Little do they know that mum (Gugino) and dad (Banderas) were actually the world’s best secret agents until they retired to raise their family. Now they’ve been kidnapped, and the kids finally discover from their Uncle Felix (Cheech Marin) – who isn’t really their uncle – what their parents really do, and also that their parents are in grave danger. It’s up to the siblings to try and rescue their parents, and save the world.

With imaginative bad guys in the form of Floop (Alan Cumming), a kids’ TV host who wants to rule the world, and a minion named Minion (Tony Shalhoub), and a plot that romps along at super-speed, this is fun stuff, packed with special effects, gadgets, action and adventure (none of it scary, all of it fun). Brilliant – and watch out for a brief cameo from George Clooney, who starred in Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn.

Is Spy Kids suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...

The kids are often in jeopardy but it is more exciting than scary.

If you like this, why not try: Spy Kids 2: Island Of Lost Dreams, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Thunderbirds, Sky High, Scooby-Doo,