If you're not a fan of the SPY KIDS movies then you should be. Sure, the movie is promoted as a made for kids film but the fact of the matter is that Robert Rodriguez series is made for not just kids but the kids in all of us. And it holds true in his latest installment SPY KIDS 4: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD.
This time around we have a new set of kids since the originals have grown up. As the movie opens, Marissa Wilson (Jessica Alba) is the top OSS spy and on a mission...even though she's due to give birth the next day. Still able to tangle with Tick Tock her able bodied enemy Marissa wins the day, retires and heads for the delivery room.
A few years later we get to see her dealing with family problems now. She's married to Wilbur Wilson (Joel McHale), a reality TV star whose show has him hunting for spies. In addition to the new baby she has two young step children as well. Cecil (Mason Cook) gets along with her fine but his older sister Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) resents her step mother and always makes her the butt of her pranks.
Of course Marissa is called out of retirement when Tick Tock escapes and lines himself up with a new enemy, The Timekeeper. They've set out to start the Armageddon machine and take over the world. The only thing that can prevent it is a stone encased in a necklace that Marissa just gave Rebecca. Asking for it back starts a whole new problem as Rebecca gives her a prank instead of the necklace.
Left home, Rebecca and Cecil find themselves under attack by Tick Tock's henchmen which initializes the home defense system Marissa installed to protect them. Soon the kids are off to a secret panic room and discover their unusual dog Argonaut is actually a robot. As the henchmen close in the kids are tossed into small rockets and whisked away towards OSS headquarters with the henchmen in pursuit. Of course they escape and make it to base.
There, they're introduced to their cousin Carmen Cortez (Alexa Vega) of the original series now grown up and working at OSS. Carmen tells them all about their mother and heritage and the Spy Kids program, now defunct. Soon the kids find themselves involved with trying to stop The Timekeeper on their own with the help of a few gadgets they were given as gifts and the whole family winds up in the middle of saving the world before the end of the film, including their other cousin from the original 3 films, Juni (Daryl Sabara).
Like the other films in the series this one isn't a movie intended to win over Oscar members. While some have panned the movie saying it displays Rodrigeuz' selling out I disagree. What it shows is his ability to entertain people who go to movies and it does so in spades. The movie does feature a number of gross out jokes for kids but that's the core audience of the film. It also offers plenty of laughs and some fantastic special effects. The fact that many are intended for 3-D doesn't hamper the movie at all.
Alba and McHale do a great job as the parents here, one aware and the other not much so of the spy heritage of the family. Both Blanchard and Cook do commendable jobs as the new kids on the block having had some small shoes to fill. And it's nice to see Vega and Sabara able to return to their original roles as adults. Let's hope they can all stick it out for at least another film.
This is the definition of a popcorn movie. A movie that is meant to entertain and make you laugh a little, to stretch your imagination and to just make you have fun. It does all of that. There's nothing offensive here and the movie's safe for family consumption unless you're offended by jokes about passing gas. If not then rent this one and watch it with your kids. If you don't have kids watch it anyway and remember when you were a kid and thought all of those James Bond gadgets would be cool to have. The movie offers more entertainment in 5 minutes than most do in 2 hours. Have fun!
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