Spy Kids

Ingrid (Gugino) and Gregorio Cortez (Banderas), semi-retired government spies, are called back to the ranks following the demise of their erstwhile colleagues at the hands of kids' puppet-show host and techno wizard Feban Floop (Cumming) and his assorted army. Ingrid and Gregorio disappear and the Cortez children (Vega and Sabara) have to don the jet-packs, slide on the computer specs and save the world. One-time rebel director Robert (El Mariarchi) Rodriguez treads a neat line, reversing a common (and mistaken) emphasis in kids' movies. He plays the danger/adventure lightly, and treats the garish design, environments, effects and various gadgets with the gravitas demanded by the young connoisseur. In terms of its family ethos, this makes an interesting comparison with the Addams Family films. Refreshingly, both portray a sexualised parental relationship and view family as a specialised enclave, within which audacity and independence are accepted. The plot deviations are endless and confusing, but children can handle that, no prob.