The action-packed, high-energy, invention-filled, special-effects thriller is no longer just for adults. With SPY KIDS, director Robert Rodriguez introduces a new kind of cinematic experience: a family espionage adventure, a James Bond for kids. Filled with gadgetry, virtual reality and unexpected discoveries of bravery, SPY KIDS is the story of a brother and sister who take on two perilous missions that defy the odds: first, to save the world from an assortment of menacing characters and creations; and second (and even more perilous!), to keep their family truly together.
The script for SPY KIDS, written by Robert Rodriguez, immediately drew readers back into the era when grand adventures could be shared by the whole family. SPY KIDS could only have come from the imagination of a man who is not only used to making high-octane movies but also has another unique qualification for this mission — being a parent. Robert Rodriguez, best known for such stylish action films as "El Mariachi," "Desperado," "From Dusk Til Dawn" and "The Faculty," wanted to create for the first time a fun, adventurous film that he could actually take his own three kids to see. In fact, Rodriguez, who has always loved making up fairy tales and inventing wild gizmos, has dreamed of making a high-flying family adventure film for years. Early in his career he made an award-winning short film entitled "Bedhead" that starred his four youngest siblings in the comedic story of a psychic little girl — and since then he has longed to return to family filmmaking with a much bigger bang. With SPY KIDS, Rodriguez is able to take the conventions and morals of a classic family film and hurtle it into the future with cutting-edge special-effects and unbridled invention.
"People familiar with my work have always asked me when I was going to make another movie like 'Bedhead,"' says Rodriguez. "And the truth is, before 'El Mariachi,' most of the short films I made were family comedies. I always wanted to do a big family action adventure movie, and then the idea came to me when I was making 'Four Rooms' with Antonio Banderas. In that film, he plays the father of two children and the kids wear taxes. I remember looking at those kids and thinking: wow, they look like little James Bonds -- now that would be a great angle for a family movie."
Says producer Elizabeth Avellan, who is married to Rodriguez: "SPY KIDS is something Robert was born to do. He is so playful, and so wonderful with kids it was just a natural for him to do this movie. This has always been his dream project — and finally a movie we can proudly show to our own children."
From the start, Rodriguez envisioned a different kind of family movie — one full of the eye-popping inventions, heart-pounding suspense and smart humor contemporary audiences of all ages love but with that extra splash of magic and meaning that speaks directly to kids. That's why he decided to tell a story about a brother and sister whose seemingly ordinary lives go kerflooey when they discover their parents are retired international spies.
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