Robert Rodriguez’s cheery quartet of Spy Kids flicks, which celebrated familial ties and the possibility for kids to save the day via the optimism that only they possess, introduced millennials to spying and Thumb Thumbs more than twenty years ago. These hopeful undertones can also be found in Rodriguez’s other family-friendly action comedies, such as The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl and its star-studded Netflix follow-up We Can Be Heroes, as well as the deliciously sentimental Spy Kids: Armageddon reboot.
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Spy Kids: Armageddon appears to be substantially detached from the prior Spy Kids franchise outside of the OSS (Organisation of Super Spies), opening the door for Netflix to further explore the narrative with a fresh cast of characters and entirely different stakes. Rodriguez has re-teamed with his son Racer Rodriguez, who famously wrote the story for Sharkboy and Lavagirl at the juvenile age of seven, in addition to revitalising the series. Although the younger Rodriguez is now much older than the movie’s intended audience, he and his father still seem more than capable of making touching family entertainment.
The parental units in Armageddon don’t have the sizzling chemistry that Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino provided to the first three films, but Terrence and Nora Tango-Torrez, played by Zachary Levi and Gina Rodriguez, do form a lovely marriage. Their clever kids Patty (Everly Carganilla) and Tony (Connor Esterson), who are the best of them, make them smooch and swoon and function as a rock-solid spy pair even better. Although they are just supporting roles for the young leads, Levi and Rodriguez are quite endearing.
Rodriguez doesn’t spend much time developing their family dynamic, preferring to plunge the audience right into the action, and it works to its advantage. in light of the subtly humorous manner in which the final act pays off the family’s hints and hints. The story puts the kids in the spotlight and lets Patty and Tony take the lead, explaining how the family functions through their snark, sibling rivalry, and sentiments for their parents. Rodriguez has consistently put his trust in the young actors he hires for his films, and so far, he hasn’t been let down. He constantly discovering young performers with talent who outperform and outsmart their adult colleagues.
D.J. Cotrona, who previously played in Rodriguez’s brief From Dusk Till Dawn revival series and opposite Levi in the Shazam! movies, completes the ensemble of nice guys by playing OSS chief Devlin. By design, his character doesn’t have much to offer, but Cotrona excels at humorous timing, especially when Patty and Tony are outdoing him.
