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Like most little kids who loved playing pretend in video games and fighting ‘bad guys,’ I enjoyed watching the 2001 film ‘Spy Kids’. It centered around pre-teen siblings Carmen and Juni Cortez, equipped with fancy gadgets, as they rescued their spy parents, played by Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino. Director Robert Rodriguez is back with a 2023 reboot titled ‘Spy Kids: Armageddon’ that stars Zachary Levi and Gina Rodriguez as the spy parents of child actors Connor Esterson and Everly Carganilla.
Much like the older films, ‘Spy Kids: Armageddon’ follows siblings Tony Tango-Torrez (Connor Esterson) and Patty Tango-Torrez (Everly Carganilla), who must rescue their parents from the clutches of an evil villain. This after the kids accidentally helped the bad guys obtain a powerful virus called “Armageddon,” which can hack and control all electronic devices around the world. Billy Magnussen plays antagonist Rey Kingston, who runs a successful gaming empire and manipulates little Tony into getting access to the virus by means of a new game called Hyskor.
Thanks to the gaming theme, ‘Spy Kids: Armageddon’ looks a lot like watching a live-action PC game, with characters and robots inspired from popular franchises. Rey Kington’s Aztec-style lair reminded me of a show called “The Legend Of The Hidden Temple” that we used to watch as kids. The CGI is quite good for most part, but looks slightly chunky and outdated towards the climax, since the ending involves the Spy Kids fighting Rey Kingston in an elaborate virtual game. Tony and Patty use various new gadgets as they gear up to confront their adversaries, and some of the technology is simply amusing. For instance, Patty finds a cube adorned with different emojis. By selecting a specific mood and hurling it at their foes, the cube induces the same emotion in them, so if she selects ‘hunger,’ her enemies will suddenly feel famished.
Zachary Levi and Gina Rodriguez make a very interesting on-screen pair, they do look like a fun couple with a bunch of kids, however, the child actors were a little awkward in their parts. Regardless, ‘Spy Kids: Armageddon’ is an entertaining film to watch with children. It’s exaggerated, colorful, filled with unreal but action-packed moments, which includes the kids flying a plane across the country without adult supervision and fighting giant robots! Amid all the “trying to save the world” madness the makers also try to sneak in a little message – you can win games without lying and cheating.
Rating: 6 on 10. Stream the film on Netflix.
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