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Business rating: 1/5 star
Star cast: Jessica Alba, Rowan Blanchard, Mason Cook, Jeremy Piven, Joel McHale.
What’s Good: The performances of the kids – Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook; the funny lines spoken by Argonaut, the (speaking) family dog.
What’s Bad: The underdeveloped script; the zero value addition by the 4D element (smell); absence of appealing costumes and gadgets, which were the hallmark of the previous Spy Kids films.
Verdict: Spy Kids: All The Time In The World is a below-average fare. Apart from a section of the audience in the cities, it will find no appreciation at the Indian box-office.
Loo break: Several in the latter half.
Watch or Not?: Watch only if your kids insist.
User rating:
Troublemaker Studios’ Spy Kids: All The Time In The World is an action-adventure about a retired spy and her two step-kids. The three are fighting an evil villain called the Timekeeper, who wants to take over the world by speeding up time.
Secret spy Marissa Cortez (Jessica Alba) retires from active duty when she has a child with her husband, television anchor Wilbur (Joel McHale). She used to work with the OSS, home of the greatest spies and where the now-defunct Spy Kids division was created. Marissa becomes a housewife in order to raise the child as well as win over the love of her step-children, Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook). While Cecil gets along with Marissa, Rebecca refuses to accept her as mother. The father, on the other hand, is busy anchoring a new TV show called ‘The Spyhunter’. However, neither the kids nor the husband are aware that Marissa is a retired spy.
One day, Marissa is called back for duty when her boss, Danger D’Amo (Jeremy Piven) asks her to bring back a sapphire that she has, in order to defeat the evil designs of the maniacal Timekeeper who threatens to take over the planet by switching on an apocalyptic device called the Armageddon. The sapphire, which Marissa has, is the only thing that can stop the device. So while Marissa heads out with her baby and the box that (she thinks) holds the sapphire, she leaves Cecil and Rebecca home with their family dog. Soon, the Timekeeper’s men attack their house in order to obtain the sapphire, which is really with Rebecca. The dog, which turns out to be an agent installed in the house by Marissa, starts talking and finally takes Rebecca and Cecil to the safety of the OSS headquarters. Once there, the kids meet up with Marissa’s niece, Carmen (Alexa Vega). She takes them to visit the old Spy Kids division and also gives them a couple of gadgets to play with. While the two kids and the dog are at the OSS headquarters, waiting for Marissa, they discover that Marissa’s boss, Danger, is, in reality, the Timekeeper. Danger takes the sapphire and locks the kids and the dog in the room. Soon, the kids and the dog find out the location of the Timekeeper’s den and transport themselves there, using technology available in the OSS headquarters. Marissa, Carmen and a former spy-kid, Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara), follow them.
What happens next? Are the kids and the spies able to keep the sapphire and destroy the Armageddon device? What about their father? Are they able to stop the speeding of time and thus save the world?
Spy Kids: All The Time In The World Review – Script Analysis
Robert Rodriguez’s screenplay is such that it will appeal only to a section of the kids. But then, enough care has not been taken to include elements like cool gadgets or costumes that were the hallmark of the previous Spy Kids films. Also, the plot is rather complicated for kids. Several things remain unexplained. For example, the functioning of the Armageddon device is not described in detail as a result of which the viewer wonders why there is such a hue and cry about it. The idea of time speeding up is interesting but has not been explored fully. Besides, the part where the newly anointed spy-kids – Rebecca and Cecil – are really fighting the bad guys is too short and the action scenes are also not half as exciting as they ought to have been. The dialogues, apart from those spoken by the dog, are rather lame.
Spy Kids: All The Time In The World Review – Star Performances
Jessica Alba does a fair job. Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook shine as the kids. Jeremy Piven (as Danger D’Amo/Tick Tock/Timekeeper) is alright. Joel McHale, Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara support well. Ricky Gervais’ voice acting as Argonaut, the dog, is very good.
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