Spy Kidsbecame a phenomenon when it was released in 2001. For kids too young to experience theJames Bondfranchise, writer and directorRobert Rodriguez captured a family-friendly portrayal of spiesthat puts kids Carmen and Juni at the center.Spy Kidsembraced a child-friendly portrayal of violence that was still fun and upbeat without relying too heavily on life-threatening danger. Instead, after discovering their parents had been spies and that they were now under threat, Juni and Carmen must escape their home and go on a mission to save their parents, and the world, from danger.
Following the success of the original film, theSpy Kidsfranchise released two sequels fairly quickly,Spy Kids 2:TheIsland of Lost DreamsandSpy Kids 3:Game Over, to continue Carmen and Juni’s roles as child spies as more dangerous threats to the world emerge. In the following sequel,Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World, two new children are introduced to life as spies, with Carmen and Juni appearing as supporting characters, and as adults, rather than the leading spy kids they had once been. Netflix’sSpy Kidsreboot,Spy Kids: Armageddon,follows an entirely new family and charactersin a story that mixes different elements of the previous films to create a new story.
5Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011) - 23%
Sadly, Carmen and Juni’s return in supportive roles is not enough to save this movie. Attempting to capture the same magic with two new kids, Cecil and Rebecca Wilson,Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the Worldfails to bring about the excitement, charisma, comedy, or fun that the films before it had mastered. With Carmen and Juni in the picture, they are the far more interesting characters but are sidelined, considering the film’s focus is on the new spy kids. While Rebecca and Cecil are connected to Juni and Carmen through their stepmother, the storyline is not enough to keep anyone excited about this movie.
4Spy Kids 3: Game Over (2003) - 45%
WhileSpy Kids 3: Game Overkeeps Juni at the center, it makes the mistake of leaving Carmen out of at least half of the movie. The sibling relationship between Carmen and Juni had been at the heart of the movie, and no longer having the two working as a team or bickering their way through saving the world was an element that was severely missing from thefranchise’s third installment. This film also suffered severely from trying to capitalize on the 3D aspect of CGI and a world within a video game, rather than focusing on the storylines and characters that made the first two films such a joy for audiences.
While Carmen becomes more important later on, Juni gets some bonding time with his grandfather. Gerti and many other familiar faces arrive toward the film’s conclusion. The central characters in this film rely on Juni and various new faces that no one had an emotional investment in prior to this film, nor doesSpy Kids 3: Game Overdo much to earn the audience’s excitement about them.
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3Spy Kids: Armageddon (2023) - 47%
Tony and Patty are the new spy kids on the block in a reboot that re-creates the original film’s concept rather than being another sequel. For the most part,Spy Kids: Armageddonis fun in its own right if you can watch it without thinking about its similarities or connections to the originalSpy Kids. Patty and Tony deal with their own version of sibling squabbles, but their dedication to finding their parents helps them work as a team when they need to.
Spy Kids: Armageddonembraces the spirit of the originalSpy Kids. But, sadly, it does not quite create a storyline or group of characters memorable or substantial enough to be as exciting as what came before.
2Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) - 75%
Carmen and Juni are back, but this time, they have antagonists their age.Gerti and Gary Giggles enter the fray to mix things upand allow there to be jealousy and competition among the still-new Spy Kids division at the OSS. Following a coup, Juni is left an outcast and forced out of the OSS, leaving Carmen to secretly re-instate him. In an effort to prove themselves, Carmen and Juni go out on a mission by themselves to try and save the world, ending up on a mysterious island with scientifically created animals.
While Juni and Carmen’s relationship still rests at the heart of the movie, their parents and grandparents keep the efforts of the familial tones of the movie alive in their subplot and strive to reunite with the kids. Gerti’s internal conflict following if she should help her father or not also adds another layer of emotional substance to the film.
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1Spy Kids (2001) - 93%
When their parents are taken hostage,Carmen and Juni discoverthe dangerous truth about their parents' lives. They were spies, and their actions are now resulting in Juni and Carmen needing to escape from their house and figure out a way to save their parents and the world. For most of the movie, Carmen and Juni only have each other to rely on, as nearly every adult they meet is an antagonist.
Their mutual desire to find their parents, mixed with their continuing feuding sibling dynamic, allows for them to develop over time as they come to figure out how to work as a team.Spy Kidsembraces a child’s dream of beating the bad guys while emphasizing and exaggerating an adult’s incompetence or genuine fear in a child as a legitimate adversary.
