Spy Kids turns two kids into secret agents and expects them to keep pace with the grown-ups around them. The 2001 film, directed and written by Robert Rodriguez, runs 88 minutes and leans on family, action, comedy and adventure, with a dash of science fiction to hold it together.
Trailer, via Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers.
The Cortez Family
Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez are the parents. They were once top secret agents from their respective countries, but they gave up that life to raise Carmen and Juni in peace. Now, the disappearance of several old colleagues forces them out of retirement. What they didn’t count on is Carmen and Juni joining the “family business.”
Alexa PenaVega plays Carmen Cortez. Daryl Sabara plays Juni Cortez. Antonio Banderas plays Gregorio Cortez. Carla Gugino plays Ingrid Cortez. The two children get robotic counterparts too: Carmenita and Junito, voiced by Vega and Sabara themselves.
Fegan Floop and His Castle
Fegan Floop, played by Alan Cumming, is the villain. He hosts a children’s TV show called Floop’s Fooglies, where he turns missing agents into creatures called Fooglies. Gregorio suspects him early on.
Floop’s castle holds the bulk of the film’s action. It’s full of Thumb-Thumbs — robots whose arms, legs and heads look like oversized thumbs. A house attack by Ninja Thumb-Thumbs sends Felix Gumm, played by Cheech Marin, into captivity while the children escape alone via a miniature submarine set to autopilot.
The Plan Against the World
Inside Floop’s castle, Floop introduces small child-shaped robots to Mr. Lisp, played by Robert Patrick. The plan is to replace the world leaders’ children with these super-strong robots to control the world. Since the androids have no artificial intelligence yet, they can’t function outside their regular programming. Lisp is furious, demanding usable androids.
Lisp and his assistant, Alexander Minion, played by Tony Shalhoub, interrogate Gregorio and Ingrid about ‘The Third Brain.’ Ingrid knows nothing of it. Gregorio claims he destroyed the brain years ago.
The Supporting Cast
Danny Trejo plays Isador “Machete” Cortez, a gadget inventor and Juni and Carmen’s uncle, though he’s Gregorio’s estranged brother. Teri Hatcher plays Ms. Gradenko, a former OSS agent turned associate of Mr. Lisp and Minion.
George Clooney plays Devlin. Kara Slack plays Carmen’s friend Leticia. Eve Sabara plays ‘Intruder’ Spy Kid. Angela Lanza plays Newscaster. Richard Linklater plays Cool Spy. Johnny Reno plays Agent Johnny. Guillermo Navarro plays Pastor. Charles Crocker plays Thumb People.
A Short History of the Film
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 18, 2001 | Premiered at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California |
| March 30, 2001 | Released in the United States by Dimension Films |
| August 8, 2001 | Extended cut, Spy Kids: Special Edition, released in US theaters |
| 2024 | Selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry |
The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $147.9 million against a production budget of $35 million. It was nominated for Best Fantasy Film at the 28th Saturn Awards.
What Works
- The premise is simple and clever: kids join the family business without asking.
- Cumming’s Floop is a great villain, cartoonish and funny.
- The miniature submarine sequence is pure fun.
- The robot army plot is genuinely silly in the best way.
What Doesn’t Work
- The pacing drags in the middle stretch.
- Some jokes land flat.
- The grown-up characters feel like extras in their own story.
The film is a solid family adventure with a strong cast and a killer villain. It doesn’t quite reach greatness, but it gets close. We call it 5.8 out of 10.
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