In news that feels like the universe spun a dial, Netflix has released a trailer for Spy Kids: Armageddon, the reboot of the Spy Kids series from director Robert Rodriguez. The franchise began in 2001 and was successful enough to spawn three sequels before petering out with an entry that couldn’t entice back Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino as the spy kids’ parents. This time, a new brother and sister discover that their parents are superspies and must become spies themselves to rescue them. Zachary Levi and Gina Rodriguez are the parents in the reboot, with Everly Carganilla and Connor Esterson as the new spy kids, plus Billy Magnussen and DJ Cortona; Robert Rodriguez is directing and co-writing once again. Spy Kids: Armageddon will arrive on Netflix on September 22, 2023, and you can see the trailer below:
My history with Spy Kids is limited; I saw the first one because my dad rented it (it had Teri Hatcher and Carla Gugino; no way Dad wasn’t renting it), didn’t like it, and never watched another one. But the series was popular, and while I’m surprised there’s enough juice left in it to get a new one made (albeit exclusively for Netflix), it doesn’t bother me or anything. These are kids’ movies, and as I said about Barbie, not everything has to be for me. I will say that I agree with Richard Roeper’s criticism of the second movie: the Spy Kids films would be more interesting if they focused more on espionage and less on sci-fi stuff. Supposedly, James Bond is one of the influences on them, to the extent that the fourth one was called Spy Kids: All the Time in the World; why not lean into that more than a video game? But that’s not for me to say; maybe kids prefer it this way.