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"Spy Kids"
(Reviewed July 12, 2001)
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I missed this one when it was in theaters, but I saw a screening tape yesterday and was knocked out by this excellent not-just-for-kids classic. There is more imagination, style and cleverness packed into this gem than you will find in any 10 other children's movies released this year. (Note added on December 9, 2001: The previous sentence was written four months before "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" came along and made me eat my words!)
A pair of funny, likeable kids find out that mom and dad actually are spies when their parents are kidnapped while on a mission. The boy and girl manage to acquire lots of 007-style gadgets (and some great modes of transportation) and set out to rescue the 'rents from a 21st-century Willie Wonka gone bad...but not entirely bad.
The kids are what make this movie so good, because they are not sickeningly robotic "Hollywood kids." Also, the movie is very pro-family without being all "family values" disgusting about it. It's wholesome but not sappy, in other words.
The look of the movie is amazing. Although it was by no means a big-budget extravaganza, it sure manages to look like one, with effects and creatures and sets that are terrific.
Back Row Grade: A
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