Review of Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011) by Thegodfatherson — 18 Nov 2013

Almost thirty years ago, John Waters released a version of his absurd satire Polyester with a scratch and sniff card he called Odorama. The gimmick was a loving throwback to the 1960 film Scent Of A Mystery that was shown in Smell-O-Vision, but like most of Waters’ homages, the olfactory obnoxiousness actually fit the tone of the film.

With a female protagonist cursed by an acute, almost uncanny sense of smell, a son who regularly got high on glue and a plot featuring a skuzzy porn theater and foot fetishes, those occasional whiffs of rancid putrescence were like horrifying and hilarious sniffs inside Polyester’s outlandish world.

The film may not have needed Odorama, but it certainly benefitted from it. The same cannot be said for Spy Kids: All The Time In The World. Robert Rodriguez is a good director. He’s made some wonderful movies in the past, but focus has to be altered based on subject matter.

Traditionally, it is better for characters to have heart and clearly defined reasons for their actions, but in a film as absurd as Spy Kids 4, those specifics don’t really need to waffle, alter and say something bigger about life.

More is not always better, especially when it suffocates the joy that should be inherent in a project like this. It’s not a total loss. There are a handful of scenes in Spy Kids 4 that really do work.

Somewhere, hidden beneath all the forced hugs, there’s a lot of fun to be had, but ultimately, that digging just isn’t worth it, even if you do get some cool scents along the way.