The first ‘Spy Kids’ movie, which marked the beginning of a film franchise, was released precisely 21 years ago. And now it is being reported that a reboot of the ‘Spy Kids’ movie is under development at Netflix. The new movie is being described as a reimagined version for new generation audiences. While the precise plot details are being kept under the wraps, the reboot will introduce a new family of spies with a multicultural family.
The parent film ‘Spy Kids’ (2001) was an entertaining espionage action-adventure story that revolved around how two young kids undertake a dangerous, globe-trotting mission to rescue their former super-spy parents from a criminal mastermind, by using high tech gadgets.
‘Spy Kids’ was helmed by Robert Rodriguez, who went on to direct three more ‘Spy Kids’ movies namely ‘Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams’ (2002), ‘Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over’ (2003), and ‘Spy Kids: All The Time in the World’ (2011).
But in the entertainment world replete with rampant remakes and reboots, is there really a need for a ‘Spy Kids’ reboot movie? From a commercial point of view, it’s a fact that the ‘Spy Kids’ film series had grossed over $500 million at the box office worldwide.
However, if we have a look at the critical response to the ‘Spy Kids’ film series, it gives us a different picture. As per reviews aggregation portal Rotten Tomatoes, the original Spy Kids movie holds the highest critics score of 93% based on 128 reviews. Thereafter, one can observe a declining trend in critics’ ratings. The second, third, and fourth films possess a consistently diminishing critics’ score of 75%, 45%, and 23%, respectively.
Although the above-stated stats do not seem to be an encouraging sign for the prospect of another ‘Spy Kids’ movie, the success of the new film would mostly depend on the freshness of the script, the director’s vision, and the right casting. If the new ‘Spy Kids’ movie checks all these boxes, then chances are high that it would click with OTT audiences. Otherwise, the declining trend might sadly continue.
Another favorable point in the ‘Spy Kids’ reboot’s favor is the involvement of Robert Rodriguez as writer/director. The ‘Desperado’ and ‘Sin City’ director has been in fine form of late. Recently, he has directed some episodes of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ and ‘The Mandalorian’ series. And prior to that, he had helmed the well-made dystopian sci-fi action flick ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ in collaboration with James Cameron. Let’s see if all of that comes together nicely for the ‘Spy Kids’ reboot.