The original "Spy Kids" movie was a cute little kids film which was actually enjoyable for adults as well. So, the studio did what they often do...take a good idea and beat it to death with sequel after sequel! As a result, his fourth installment managed something no other "Spy Kids" movie did...it managed to make IMDB's infamous Bottom 100 List. In other words, it's among the 100 wide release films that are hated most by IMDB users.

In order to try to keep interest in the franchise, later films added gimmicks to keep the kids interested. This one has several....it's in 3D, it has 'smell-o-vision' (theaters were equipped with machines that dispensed scents) and there's a talking robotic dog....all of which loudly scream out 'jumped the shark'.

When the movie begins, you'll notice that barely anyone from the original movie is here. This makes sense, as the two children from the first one were no longer kids...as a decade has passed. Interesting, the fully grown kids from the original films DO show up later in this movie as their original characters. And, since the kids in the film are new, so are the parents. One is a TV host of a show called "Spy Hunter", the step-mom is an actual spy for OSS*.

When a super-villain named the Time Keeper starts affecting the passage of time, the step-mom is called into action. Almost immediately after, minions of this baddie show up and try to abduct the kids...and they realize their step is a spy! How do the kids defeat this first wave of minions? By hurling puke bags at them...an excellent metaphor for this picture!

So, was there anything I liked about this film? A few things. I appreciated how the boy in the film wore hearing aids. You rarely have deaf or hard of hearing characters in movies. The only sad part is that it didn't look as if they hired an actual hard of hearing kid for this part. The look of the film is also nice...they clearly spent money on the movie and came up with some cool gadgets. And, finally, I did appreciate that they brought back the grown up spy kids...a nice touch.

What I disliked mostly was the scatological nature of much of the film. These were just gross and unnecessary...and guaranteed to offend and bring down the quality of the production. The film also lacks originality and it looks like there have just been a few too many trips to the well, so to speak. What was original, but unwanted, was the robot dog. While a few of his comments were kind of clever, mostly he was there to provide potty humor.

The bottom line is that I definitely did NOT like this film but feel that kids may like it...parents certainly won't in most cases. The same things that turned me off might be enjoyed by some kids...especially the robotic dog. So, I'll give it a 1 for parents and a 5 for kids...and will split the difference for my overall score.



*There really was an OSS. The Office of Strategic Services was created for WWII and later was renamed the CIA.Three times could be the charm...but what about four??

The fourth instalment of the interminable SPY KIDS saga was made almost a decade after the third. A new, younger pair of siblings are the central characters here, with the now-adult kids from the originals making extended cameos. Truth be told, ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD is the worst of the franchise yet. Expect bad guys with ridiculous high-pitched voices, repetitive fart jokes, and bad acting all around. The CGI isn't quite as terrible as in the third film but it's still pretty terrible and the whole thing feels like an overblown vapid mess. It says something when the funniest thing in the movie is a robotic dog voiced by Ricky Gervais, of all people.

The real purpose of a movie is to entertain (escapism) - to distance you from your problems for a short period of time. If you will look at this movie from the perspective of a person viewing movies for entertainment purposes, then this movie is good (not very good since there are a lot of better escapist movies out there). If you look at it from the perspective of a movie critic, then this is a horrible movie, filled with clichés and poop jokes.

The first film of this franchise may have had some cliché plot points, but it didn't rely on poop and fart jokes to move the story or try to make the viewer laugh.

This movie has the usual 'stepdaughter-hates-stepmom' and the 'geeky brother' story lines along with the happily ever after ending. It seems the movie thinks that watching these story lines is entertaining to kids, when in fact, it's not (speaking from my perspective as a 13 year old kid). To be frank, it's quite annoying.

However, this movie doesn't lack on the entertainment value. CGI all-around, gadgets everywhere, this movie has tons of cool stuff to keep the viewer at the edge of their seat. There are jokes that if you watch first may seem funny, but in the end will make you think "is that joke really funny, or is it offensive".

Bottomline is, this movie can be good or bad, depending on your perspective. To me, it's escapism at its finest.