Robert Rodriguez works quickly, efficiently, and economically, which might be one the reasons why the extended Spy Kids universe simply refuses to die at any cost, with Netflix keeping the brand afloat through yet another reinvention.
Even though it’s been two decades since the original trilogy wrapped up with the dismal Game Over, which was then followed by the even worse soft reboot All the Time in the World, the IP has never truly been allowed to stagnate in the interim seeing as The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl and its spiritual successor We Can Be Heroes technically occupy the same mythology as Spy Kids.
However, as much as we’ve resigned ourselves to any remotely relevant franchise being dusted off and given a fresh coat of paint, nobody could have been expecting Netflix’s new release Armageddon to be any good, and not just because it stars noted nitwit and enemy of “garbage” cinema Zachary Levi.
And yet, with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 70 percent at the time of writing, the fifth mainline installment is the best-reviewed Spy Kids flick to arrive since 2002’s The Island of Lost Dreams, a development it would have been impossible to see coming as recently as yesterday.
While there’s every chance those numbers will fluctuate up or down over the course of the weekend, maybe rejuvenating Spy Kids yet again wasn’t quite as futile as we’d been led to believe, and if it performs well enough among subscribers then a sixth chapter most definitely can’t be ruled out.
