Spy Kids? Who Would’ve Guessed?

Morning All,

Just want to drop a little knowledge on the success of Robert Rodriguez and his experimental family-friendly movie franchise Spy Kids. You remember Spy Kids right? The first one premiered all the way back in 2001 and although you probably had no interest at the time, if you watch it today you’ll be jostled by how far digital film making has come. All of this is the result of one Robert Rodriguez who you know from action movies like Planet Terror, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Sin City and most recently, Machete.

Rodriguez has built a very successful career in movie making by adapting to the digital format, but the experiments are hardly ever done with the big blockbuster flicks like the ones mentioned above. Rodriguez’s playground is the Spy Kids franchise. That’s right, the man that brought you the machine-gun leg, the stylized Frank Miller adaptation and some of the most gruesome, yet entertaining action sequences today always tests his talents/ideas with kids.

Spy Kids seems to be that type of franchise that not only entertains children, but also grows with them in a sense. No, I’m not talking about pressing world issues, but simple lessons and morals in the tone of some fairy tales.

So if you ever wanted to learn how Robert Rodriguez experiments and tests his shooting technique, how he cuts his films and where he tries new things, check out one of the Spy Kids movies.

Spy Kids premiered in 2001 and starred notable performers like Antonio Banderas, Teri Hatcher, Alan Cumming and Carla Gugino. It also spawned the phenomenon (okay maybe not yet) now known simple as Machete – Danny Tejo.

Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams brought back a lot of the original cast and also included Steve Buscemi

Spy Kids 3D: Game Over again brought back most of the original cast and this time added big names like Sly Stallone and Salma Hayek

And now, as we leap into the next generation of digital film making (a time I like to refer to as Post-Avatar) Rodriguez is at it again with Spy Kids 4: Armageddon premiering next year. Although nothing is absolutely confirmed, it looks as though Jessica Alba and Joel McHale will be joining the Spy Kids family.

Not bad for a kids franchise if you ask me.