Review of Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011) by Slippery — 02 Sep 2012

First and foremost, realize that this is a movie for young kids. That said, the fact that your making a movie for kids does not mean that it does not need a coherent plot, sincere acting or thoughtful direction.

The movie is cute. The kids, played by Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook, are by far the best part. They're cute, they seem to enjoy themselves for the most part. Rowan Blanchard in particular showed a good range of character and emotion. As well Jeremy Piven was great. He seemed to have fun with the role, and seemed to really try to do what he could within the constraints of the script and the direction. Ricky Gervais as the voice of the dog was also great, but again, within the script and direction.

I can't help but feel that they, and this movie as a whole, could have shined, if only ....

First, the biggest problem with this movie is that the vast majority of the humor involves farts, vomit and poop. I think that's an insult to kids everywhere. You can walk up to a kid almost anywhere, make a funny face and say "Poo-Poo" and get a laugh. It doesn't mean it's actually funny. The humor was an embarrassment.

The script needed to be tighter. It's like they started with a great idea, and then a whole bunch of people got involved and said "Yeah, but wouldn't it be better if ..." No. It wouldn't. The script needed a lot of trimming, especially with the throwaway subplot of the Dad's failed TV career. It was just too rushed. And that's just ONE example. Ironically, in a movie absolutely overflowing with idioms and metaphors about TIME, the writers tried to cram too many ideas into too little time. Focus, people!

The movie would have been better without the baby. I would just eliminate her from the plot completely. What I really liked in the writing was the message about spending time with family. They did sort of bludgeon the message to death, but I liked the fact that they focused not only on the time parents spend with their kids, but the time kids are willing to spend with their parents. They showed neglectful parents AND neglectful kids, and I liked that. That message, in a better, more focused plot, would have gone down a lot better.

Finally, I enjoyed seeing Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara back as Carmen and Juni Cortez ... BUT, I feel that they were only really INTO this movie when they were TOGETHER. Together, they had chemistry, and familiarity and fun. Apart ... they just seemed distant and dislocated. And again, we COULD have made the movie without them. It was nice to see the original Spy Kids all grown up, but it was subplot we could have trimmed and not really known it was gone.

Overall, this was NOT a horrible movie, but it could have been a lot better.