What do you get when you mix “Charlie’s Angels” , James Bond and two rugrats? Well Spy Kids of course.

Writer-director Robert Rodriguez sculpts together a charming and high-octane family adventure. It was a lot like the spy movies of today but with a Disney-esque twist. The film stars new-comers Alex Vega (Carmen) and Daryl Subara (Juni) as two kids who have no idea that their parents are international spies. Antonio Banderas and Chicago Hope’s Carla Gugino star as Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez, the kids’ parents.

The kids learn that their parents are spies when an evil toy manufacturer and television personality captures their parents. The toy maker is the notorious Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming) who happens to be little Juni’s favorite TV show personality. To help Floop’s maniacal plan of world domination he creates a mutated brand of characters, which happen to be former agents sent to bring Floop down. Is Floop insane? Why is he doing this? And can Carmen and Juni save their parents?

“Spy Kids” is quite an enjoyable film for the whole family. Rodriguez has created a fictional spy world that is sure to delight a lot of kids. It’s interesting that Rodriguez picked a toy maker and television personality as the main villain. The way the villain is portrayed reminded me a lot of the 80’s children’s series “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” where the main character lived with a lot of deformed friends and always talked about his dreams. What is even more strange is that the actor who played Pee Wee (Paul Reubens) wants to bring back his character but as a different but twisted character.

Alan Cumming as the villain was a great choice and I really liked how this actor is starting to become more mainstream. I still remember him as the obsessed boyfriend to Mini Driver in “Circle of Friends”. It is amazing how much he did look like Pee Wee and how beautifully he could easily slip into his cartoon world personality.

The two children really have great chemistry and have a lot of heart which is poignant for a good family film. They are quite delightful and bring the right amount of innocence to their reactions to the “spy-world”.

The main attraction to this film will be the gadgets, sets and action. The gadgets are so cool even this adult wanted some of them. I have always loved Bond gadgets but always felt there were never enough in a Bond film. In this film we have lots and lots of gadgets. More gadgets, the merrier. Do you hear that MGM?

You also have to give recognition to the set designers because a lot of the alcoves and houses shown in this film are really visually stunning. I loved the “safe house” that house absolutely rocked.

As an adult watching this I was still caught up in the delight of what was there. Inside the film there is a family message about unity and love but it isn’t dominant which is delightful. I liked Spy Kids and I hope all the rugrats out there will too.

(4 of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.

Gregorio Cortez and Ingrid Cortez (not her maiden name) were spies who spent a great deal of their time trying to hunt the other down, but through all of their chasing they begin to fall for eachother and one day they were wed. The two decided they would retire from the spy game, settle down, and raise a family. Some nine years later they get the call they were fearing, they were called back on assignment. Apparently several OSS (the spy organization to which the Cortezes belong) agents have gone missing and it is their task to find them. Unfortunately for Gregorio and Ingrid they are captured before they solve the mystery. Now it is up to their children, Carmen and Juni, to save them.

Plot: Honestly its a clever little story and I think kids will truly enjoy it. The movie doesn't dumb down reality for children much like pokemon does and it never gets too campy or too preachy for the older audience who knows very well that "bad things are bad." Spy Kids is written and directed by the same man who made the 1995 violent action film Desperado, Robert Rodriguez. It seems that Rodriguez has taken the action from Desperado, but replaced the violence with adventure and comedy...the mix works quite well. It may not a perfect script, but its enjoyable nonetheless. **** (out of five)

Acting: Well, being a kids movie, its quite well acted. Now don't go to this film expecting to see academy award quality drama, expect to see well-timed childish comedy. The best actors in this film are the two main children in the film, Carmen and Juni played by Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara respectively. They are two cute kids who do an excellent job at being...well, cute. Other notable performances include Antonio Banderas (Gregorio Cortez), Carla Gugino ( Ingrid Cortez), and Tony Shalhoub as the evil minion. The only performance that was just slightly off was that of Alan Cumming playing the TV show host Fegan Floop. Although he is probably best remembered by American audiences for his role as Boris Grishenko in the James Bond film GoldenEye Cumming has been acting on the stage for the majority of his career and is best remembered for his role as the MC in the revival of the musical Cabaret. So it comes as a shock to me when he plays such a simple role so poorly. Often in this film he just seemed detached from the story delivering a performance that seemed sometimes amateurish and other times laughably campy. ***1/2(out of five)

Directing: As a film student at the University of Texas, Austin director Robert Rodriguez sold himself as a human test subject to a pharmecutical company so he could raise the proper funds to make his 1992 Spanish language film El Mariachi. That film went on to win major awards at the famed Sundance Film Festival and many other international festivals and it was later remade by Rodriguez into 1995's Desperado staring Antonio Banderas. Rodriguez has an undying dedication to filmmaking that's apparent in all of his films, Spy Kids being no exception to that rule. Rodriguez has a great sense of action and a flair for acute visual comedy. He took on the role of writer, director, editor, composer, and even visual effects supervisor in order to get his film made. In my opinion it was all worth it. ****1/2 (out of five)

Music: The film credits as many as six composers for the film's score: John Debney, Danny Elfman, Gavin Greenaway, Harry Gregson-Williams, Heitor Peiera, and Robert Rodriguez. Surprisingly the whole film flows together rather smoothly. The only piece that stood out was the opening theme that seemed to steal some elements of the Men in Black theme...but Danny Elfman wrote that too and he was only stealing from himself. ***1/2(out of five)

Special Effects: There are more special effects in this film than one may expect in the average kids movie. There were hordes of costumed "floogies" and "thumb-thumbs", an entire army of robot children, spy gadgets, underwater vehicles, sharks, castles, fake cities, massive houses, brains, and more. It was a wonderland of special effects that can only be described as whimsical in their design. Not only that, but they were all done very well, good work by all those involved. ****1/2(out of five)

Bottom Line: Spy Kids is a visual ride that is as perfect for kids as it is for adults...with kids. ****(out of five)