Hey folks, Harry here... I saw SPY KIDS on Saturday at the Austin Film Society's REGIONAL PREMIERE of SPY KIDS at the Paramount Theater here in Austin... The theater was packed with parents and their children... just loaded to the gills. I'm thinking of sitting out writing a review on SPY KIDS simply because of how close I am to Robert and this film... I had a blast and have no doubts about how successful the movie is set to be, but I figure I should probably hold my review till after the opening weekend. If you have doubts about the quality of the film, just notice that nearly every critic that has seen it so far... from JoBlo to the Hollywood Reporter to Variety have all enthusiastically praised the film as being a near perfect work of family entertainment. This movie is simply FUN.... F....U.....N..... And if you remember what that word means, you'll enjoy the hell out of it. But onto the reviews....
Hi Harry,
I caught a sneak preview of "Spy Kids" yesterday. Let me begin by saying that I'm 28 years old, have no children, attended the screening with my wife and her parents, AND we all had a great time!
I'm hoping this film does great business. It's a great film for children and their parents. I've enjoyed all of Rodriguez's work, and this is no exception.
There's nothing to give away, plotwise that is. It's fairly simple, but for those who haven't heard yet....
Antonio Banderas and Carla (can't remember her last name!!! She was on "Spin City" the first season as Michael J. Fox's love interest) play a married couple who used to be spies. Marriage and childeren have caused them to settle down and work only as consultants. But, an important message lures them out of retirement only to be captured. Their kids then find themselves in a situation where they feel they are the only ones who can save them.
It's great fun watching this film. You have to remember, it's for the kids, but hey, we were all kids once and dreamed of flying through the air with a rocket pack, having secret weapons, and saving the day.
I hope this film doesn't get buried in the spring lull of bad films. Maybe it can hang on until summer and do some good $$$.
Just call me Travis Bickle.
And here's a review from a local Austin mother who paid to see SPY KIDS at the Austin Premiere of the film last Saturday afternoon.
SPY KIDS shuts down a block of Congress Avenue Saturday!
The exploits of one mom (and her little spy kid) follow:
The regional premiere and street carnival, replete with balloon men, a juggler, face painters, free popcorn and cotton candy, also included an appearance by Ronald McDonald himself! Meeting the "real" McDonald proved to be overwhelming for my tot, who has always believed that any meal consisting of chicken strips and French fries is (or should be) a Happy Meal.
We arrived at the carnival without knowing quite what to expect, besides a reasonably entertaining day…my sprite immediately located and procured an enormous quantity of cotton candy to nosh while we scanned the scene. Ooooohhh! A dragon go-round! The lines at this point were surprisingly short, but wait…we didn’t have our wristbands yet. That obstacle was easily overcome…and we received our SPY KIDS prize packs…coool. (One of our juice boxes had Danny Trejo depicted on the back!) We now had enough sugar to sustain a small army of children through the night…and we weren’t sharing!
I climbed into one ride with my little one in tow, and realized too late that we’d be whirling at dizzying speed…oh no…will she be ok? I look down, her knuckles are white, her eyes are shut and she’s squealing "Wheeeeeeee! Mommy this is SO fun!" Well, I suppose the Ferris wheel is next…
But first…face painting! Among the many butterflies, lightning bolts, and smiley faces one usually sees were a number of kids with "SPY KIDS" on their foreheads or cheeks. She asked for stars.
While standing in line for the Ferris wheel, we had an experience that reminded me of the whole Willy Wonka thing…and I’ve always dearly loved Roald Dahl. Lines have a tendency to morph and grow longer, especially when you’re standing in the middle. Earlier I noticed a small group of children who cut into the front of the line for just about every ride, and this is how they did it: one or two of them would sidle up to someone, and stand there a few minutes, then the rest of them would join in. Well, one of these cherubs had a few words with a petulant, whining boy (about ten or eleven years old, I think) who crashed their group. He was really obnoxious and uncouth, and I’d really had enough by that time…so I tapped him on the shoulder and pointed out to him that he hadn’t been standing in line, and it really wasn’t fair to cut in front of everyone else, since there were about a hundred people waiting patiently behind us. His bowl haircut swished, his cheeks flushed, and tears welled up in his spoiled blue eyes as he screwed up his fists and actually jumped up and down while declaring "MY DADDY told me I could STAND RIGHT HERE, and I’M NOT moving! I’m not MOVING! You can’t make me, because MY daddy said so! I will NOT." Aghast, I bit my lip and said no more. ‘Veruca Salt has nothing on you, kid’ I thought to myself. The little girl he’d been arguing with promptly started making excuses for him, she told me "you know, it’s really his dad’s fault. Maybe his dad didn’t know that the line was so long." "I understand that, but I expect my three year old to understand that you must wait your turn in line" I replied. Shortly after that, another little boy and his mother joined the group of girls…proving that rude spoiled children usually have the same for parents. They all wore purple wristbands, which indicated that they had the premium tickets, so they’ll be touring the movie sets next weekend, while the rest of us will be waiting for another look at this amazingly wonderful, beautiful movie. That’s fine by me. They won’t be there to cut in line.
Before the movie, Louis Black introduced Ronald McDonald, who talked about charitable works, and the mission of the Ronald McDonald House. After that, Robert Rodriguez spoke briefly and introduced the movie to a packed house. The movie review I’ll leave to professionals although I will say that my daughter paid rapt attention to the movie…even though some of the banter was aimed at older children, or adults…she enjoyed it as much as I did. This really is a FAMILY film…and we loved that the girl got to be cooler than cool.
After the screening, Robert, assisted by Mike Judge, Carla Gugino (tres chic, and she wore great shoes!) Alexa Vega, and Daryl Sabara gave away several props…a certain "brain", a jet pack, a lunch box…you know, just your usual spy stuff…Then, the real golden ticket…a role as an extra in the next SPY KIDS movie… Robert admonished adults to give their ticket to the nearest child…Alexa and Daryl both chose a winning number…then Robert decided to award one more prize just for the heck of it. And it was cool. Very cool to see their excitement…
Robert said he made this because of, and for his family. This movie is a love letter about childhood fantasies…made real. Make more like this, Robert, many, many more…
call me Ivory (aka Dragonfly).
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