My Childhood Favorites: Is Spy Kids as Good as I Remember?

Poster Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids (2001)

How often do our childhood favorite pieces of media actually hold up to time? So often, we look back on our favorite shows and movies and books and find ourselves cringing at some of the “jokes,” wondering how we didn’t notice any of the offensive nature before, or being blown away by how terrible the movie actually is. This is the question I have to answer for myself with one of the greatest (in my opinion) kids movies of all time: Spy Kids.

The original Spy Kids were a 3-film franchise produced in the early 2000s centered around siblings Carmen and Juni Cortez, who are forced to delve into the secret agent world when their parents are kidnapped. These films heavily feature Latino themes, as the producer, Robert Rodriguez was raised in San Antonio by his Mexican parents. Although Rodriguez later made

2 more continuations, for this piece I will only be discussing the first three as they were the ones I grew up with.

For those of us who grew up watching these movies, you may remember the quirky CGI, the funky “future” technology, and the bright colors. Part of the appeal was all the campy visual effects. In addition, the plot was always quirky– a famous TV host kidnapping spies and turning them into goofy-looking monsters for his kids show? The build-up to Elijah Woods’ character “The Guy” in the third movie, only to immediately kill him off, still makes me laugh to this day. Nothing says growing up in the early 2000s like this type of nonsense. Each movie felt so unique, the outlandish stories were easily digestible, and even if you may not have understood them, you still had a fun time watching them. And that was the point– as Rodriguez himself said he wanted the movie to empower children and feed into their creativity, who cares what adults think. But for some of us, we may remember the way Carmen and Juni were like us: unapologetically Latino and proud of it.

The Latino themes in this movie are constant and always present. For example, arguably the most important theme was family. The chemistry between the family members felt so real. The family unit was strong, supportive, and loving. The sibling banter between Carmen and Juni was realistic, and even when they’re fighting and calling each other immature names you can tell there is familial love.

A scene that I always remember is the build up to the Avengers Assemble- style climax at the end of Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over when they bring in all of Carmen and Juni’s allies to help them fight the Toy Maker (Sylvester Stalone.) Their dad (Antonio Banderas), has spent years working on “the third brain,” and is in the middle of finalizing this technology, telling everyone not to move. However, the moment he hears his family is calling he abandons the “most important moment of his life” and immediately flies to their aid.

Although it's comical to see such a serious and suave actor being silly, I also remember feeling so hyped that the kids had such a strong support system—such a strong family. Not to mention how star-studded the rest of their familial backup is: their mom (Carla Cugino), Grandma Helga, Tio Felix (Cheech Marin), Tio Machete (Danny Trejo), and Grandpa Valentin (Ricardo Montalbán.) Upon realizing that their family “won’t be enough,” Juni is reminded that “everyone is [your] family,” and calls in all their allies.

Familia Cortez

The fact that they are a Latino family is also reinforced through small ways.

Language is a big indicator. The use of Spanish is natural and normalized, and they code-switch easily. In the first movie, Carmen is asked to give her full name: Carmen Elizabeth Juanita Echo Sky Brava Cortez. While it’s a funny moment, many Latinos can relate to having a long name (Did you know Juni’s full name is Juni Rocket Racer Rebel Cortez, LOL.) Likewise, their non-spy clothing, particularly in the first movie, is more traditional. Carmen and her mother, Ingrid, both wear traditional Mexican embroidered blouses. Things like this are never called attention to because they are normal, because they are the reality for many.

Rodriguez doesn’t need to constantly call attention to the fact that they are a Latino family, letting them exist as they are, even as he reinforces their culture in other ways.

So, to answer my earlier question: is Spy Kids as good as I remember? Although childhood played a major factor in coloring my impression of the movie, I honestly appreciate the movie even more as an adult. Even if nostalgia made me ignore 2001 CGI, the movie was creative, funny, and natural Latino representation. The reason why Spy Kids, and other Rodriguez’s movies, holds up to time is because of the care he put into making sure both children and Latinos everywhere were naturally respected in the movies.