Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World

Editorial

First things first, the numbers popped up on screen and we scratched our scratch ‘n’ sniff card like a wild thing. What did we smell? We’re not exactly sure. Where John Water’s Polyester provided stenches aplenty in Odorama, Robert Rodriguez’s dip into the fourth dimension with Aromascope is less successful. Everything smelt like bubblegum.

This is the fourth installment of Sin City helmer Rodriguez’s proudly kid-friendly franchise. The action is PG rated, the characters one dimensional and the day-glo designs garish. But this is most definitely Rodriguez doing it for the kids.

Rodriguez regular Jessica Alba stars as Marissa Wilson, a super spy and full-time step mom. Pregnant she retires just as her husband Wilbur (Community’s pretty boy Joel McHale) becomes a TV spy hunter. No clues who is the first spy he hunts down. Their kids Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook), surprise, become spy kids, the original spy kids (Alexa Vega and a woeful Daryl Sabara) return again to give the new kids on the block some sagely, and often ridiculous, advice and the new Wilson baby becomes, you’ve guessed it, a spy kid. Entourage’s Jeremy Piven has fun in multiple roles and the bad guy, the Timekeeper, is merely an excuse for copious time puns. It’s about time. Groan.

Time will tell – snigger - if Rodriguez’s sleuthing juveniles live for another adventure, this is a fun cinematic experience but much like a happy meal, leaves you wanting more. The showmanship involved lifting a potential empty experience into a fun 90 minutes. If the same attention had been paid to the script it could have been a real winner. A fun, but vacuous, addition to the Spy Kids saga.

David Michael Brown