Spy Kids is a film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. I remember sitting in the hall some 12 years ago watching the 3rd part of this franchise. That happened to be my first 3D film. So since I had no clue as to what I was watching that time, I didn't like the film that much. So I fortunately came across the first part which was being aired on TV a few days ago. And I can safely say that I didn't like it.Plot: Carmen and Juni decide to take matters on their own hands when their parents who happen to be ex spies get kidnapped.Story and direction: This film had quite a good story in its place. I can atleast give it credit for that. And its starts quite well. I was kind of engrossed in it. I felt like the flashback scene was to be the only over the top thing in this entire film. But then it happens to go on. I can understand when a film is being made for kids and we have to add some illogical sequences. BUt this film has a lot of them. And the VFX. Oh My God. How much green screen and so fake. Films before Spy kids had much better VFX. I know that the budget was very less. I always think when you can't do great VFX, just put that thing away. And the fight scenes are so wire-y. Almost every fight scene looked fake. This film kind of irritated me. Also we have a more over the top villain who stays in some CGI-ed castle. I would say that Danny Elfman was mostly the saving grace for this film because the score was quite enagaging.Performances: Antonio Banderas was good. But he has done better than this. Carla Gugino was OK. The kids were great in their roles as most of the concentration was them and they did justice to what was given to them. Alan Cumming and Tony Shalhoub were so over the top that they became irritating over a point of time. Same goes to Teri Hatcher. Danny Trejo was a good addition to the film.I can't actually mention any scene that would be my favorite.Verdict: This film is for Kids only. If you are mature enough, you can quite avoid this venture. I am going with a 5.5/10

I loved this film as a kid and wanted to go back and watch it again to spot all the moments I enjoyed first time around.I think all these years later the film still holds up as a bitter than average family film. I don't think the director needed to stretch it out to be a trilogy (or add the very poor fourth entry many years later)but that's another matter.The two lead kids play the parts well and have a good dynamic between them and Antonio Banderas/Carla Gugino are good support as the parents.Watching it back now though I think it does have some slow parts and the technology looks a bit dated compared to what we're used to today, but Spy Kids 1 still remains a quality film for all the family.

When I saw this movie, I immediately was pulled in and obsessed. The trailers made the movie look bad, so I decided, no I shouldn't see it. Then on rotten tomatoes, I saw 93% which is a great amount. I decided to see it, and I loved it. For anyone who is uncertain about seeing this movie, go for it. It is an original, unexpected journey, that you can see repeatedly, and will not get bored. I think the best part of this movie is... the storyline, and the acting. Outstanding roles from Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara (Carmen and Juny), and any other actor/actress in the movie. I recommend any parents to go take there kids to this movie.After all, Spy Kids is an original, first one out of the package piece of paper that sucks you in, making you stare at the drawing all day.

I was in my early teens when this movie came out, and I can't remember exactly how I first heard about it, but I don't think that happened until a few years later. It has now been several years since I first heard of "Spy Kids", but I was far from eager to watch it. I knew it was a kiddie spy flick, like "Agent Cody Banks", and even though it's been several years since I last saw that 2003 release, I can still remember being put off by its cheesiness. I would probably still be ignoring this 2001 kiddie spy flick if it weren't for renowned cartoonist and filmmaker Mike Judge in the cast, as small as his role here is. This movie generally isn't considered atrocious, but I knew it would be at least somewhat cheesy, so I was not surprised by its overall mediocrity.Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez were once enemy spies from different countries, sent to kill each other, but when they met, they soon ended up falling in love, getting married, and semi-retiring from the spy business. Nine years later, they are now the parents of two children, Carmen and Juni, who are both unaware of their parents' past. The two Cortez parents return to their spy jobs after several other spies go missing, and it looks like a children's TV show called "Floop's Fooglies" could be responsible! They leave Uncle Felix Gumm with the kids and set out to investigate. The two secret agents are soon captured on their mission, and when this happens, an alarm goes off in the Cortez home and the place is invaded! Uncle Felix tells Carmen and Juni the truth, which is that their parents are spies and he is not really their uncle. The two young siblings manage to escape, and set out to work as spies themselves and save their parents! As well as being an action adventure film, this is also supposed to be a comedy, but absolutely nothing made me laugh, and I guess a couple parts made me smile, but hardly even did that! The "Now flushing your poop" part is an example of juvenile kiddie humour in the movie, and it's also certainly not amusing watching the conflict between the Cortez siblings, with the name calling and such. The story didn't really grab me for the most part, either. I found the first 25 minutes of the film or so to be consistently dull (including the part showing how two enemy spies just suddenly changed their minds when they met), and later, I did find SOME adrenaline in it, thanks to the action, but not enough to distract me from the flaws. I didn't really care much for any of the characters, and Alan Cumming's performance in the role of Fegan Floop is rather weak. I could tell that this character was supposed to be one of the more comical ones, but he just provides more failed attempts at humour for the already unfunny film. The special effects in "Spy Kids" are great, but special effects aren't everything.This 2001 kiddie spy flick apparently turned out to be a success, and was followed by "Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams" in 2002 and "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" in 2003. After a long break, it appears the franchise is about to return with another sequel called "Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World" coming up, one by Robert Rodriguez, just like the first three. However, I doubt I'll be watching any of these, as watching the original "Spy Kids" didn't capture my interest well enough. Now, maybe a 6/10 for this movie wouldn't be too much from me, due to the reasonably suspenseful parts (it may be a bit better than "Agent Cody Banks"), but in the end, it still left me with an underwhelming feeling. There's a good chance I would have liked this movie as a kid, but many adult viewers have also clearly enjoyed it. I won't say it's strictly for kids, but you should know what you're in for, and it's unsurprisingly a little cheesy.