For years, Robert Rodriguez dreamed of making a family movie that would take place inside the virtual world of a video game, a world that excited him because anything can happen there, because speed, color, strength and the intensity of adventure can be magnified beyond all human proportions. But it wasn’t until the director began thinking about his next Spy Kids movie that he realized this was a perfect mission for underage agents Juni and Carmen Cortez, to play the toughest video game ever invented for the highest of stakes: saving the youth of the world.
Says Rodriguez: “For a long time, I had plans for a family science fiction movie about siblings who get stuck inside a video game and I wanted it to be in 3-D. I liked the idea of the audience getting totally immersed in this visually exciting world, having to duck and shift in their seats to avoid being hit by flying objects. It soon occurred to me that this was the perfect concept for the third Spy Kids movie. It’s totally different from the first two movies, yet takes the characters everyone already knows somewhere completely new and has lots of fun surprises for the audience. And because the Spy Kids are immersed in this digitally animated world, it raises the bar on visual excitement and thrills. I realized this wouldn’t really be like making a sequel. It would be a completely fresh and exciting challenge for everyone involved.
Rodriguez had played plenty of video games in his life, beginning with PONG in the 70’s and now with his own children. But as he started writing the script, he began to envision a kind of “ultimate video game,” one that was faster, wilder and more complicated than any he’d ever encountered. This became “Game Over,” the new software designed by The Toymaker to draw kids into his trap with irresistibly sweet graphics and a cool multi-level design.
“The idea was strong, and I quickly realized I was going to have to invent some really wild new levels in order to live up to the potential this story was offering. I also wanted the video game in the movie to be a combination of different game genres. One level would be spooky and full of stealth, another level would have battling mech styled robots, another level would be a zany and colorful Ninentendo64-type world with giant Toads on pogo sticks whipping their tongues at the characters and the audience. Others would be more extreme sports type levels with unicycle Road Warrior-style racing, and Lava Surfing,” he says. “The idea was to create one exciting set piece after another, and have each level get more complex visually as you progressed through the game and became more involved in the characters. I wanted to create a game that I’d like to play with my own kids, but also one we’d really love the chance to go inside. And of course each challenge in the game had to be conducive to hurling objects the audience must dodge. There was certainly a lot to think about, and an enormous amount of condensed design work.”
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