Spy Kids: Armageddon

The seams are showing, but there's no shortage of fun and imagination.

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I’ve always been a fan of multi-hyphenate filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. His R-rated movies “Desperado,” “From Dusk Till Dawn” and “The Faculty” were faves from my teenage years that I still very much admire.

I was open to and even enjoyed Rodriguez’s first forays into kiddie flicks – these being “Spy Kids” and “Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams.” “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” soured me on the franchise enough that I didn’t even bother with “Spy Kids: All the Time in the World” nor Rodriguez’s other youth-centric offerings “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl” nor “Shorts.” I did tip my toe back into Rodriguez’s family fare with 2020’s “We Can Be Heroes” (review here), which most decidedly didn’t blow my hair back. It was with some trepidation that I agreed to review “Spy Kids: Armageddon” (now streaming on Netflix) … and I must admit it was a pleasant surprise.

Video game-obsessed tween siblings Tony (Connor Esterson) and Patty (Everly Carganilla) are enraptured by the RPG adventure “LoSkor” and are eagerly anticipating its sequel “HySkor.” The games are designed by Rey ‘The King’ Kingston (Billy Magnussen).

Tony gets early access to “HySkor” when he cheats in a contest at school. Patty chastises her brother for his deception, but is open to playing the game with him. Unfortunately, the kids’ father Terrence (Zachary Levi) limits their screen time, so they’ll have to covertly sneak in an introductory gaming sesh.

Unbeknownst to them it turns out Terrence and the kids’ mother Nora (Gina Rodriguez) are spies and Kingston is using “HySkor” to hack into a powerful digital weapon known as Armageddon Code. When Terrence and Nora get taken, it’ll be up to Tony and Patty to team with their parents’ boss Devlin (Levi’s “Shazam!” co-star D.J. Cotrona), save their folks and take down Kingston.

There’s a lot to admire about “Spy Kids: Armageddon.” It’s very much a family affair for Rodriguez (who directed, co-produced, co-wrote, shot and chopped the picture) and his brood. Rodriguez’s son Racer Max co-wrote and co-produced. Another of his sons Rebel (he played in the ill-fated Tony Block in “Planet Terror” … “I’m gonna eat your brains and gain your knowledge.”) co-scored the film alongside John Debney. Rodriguez’s 17-year-old daughter Rhiannon did some additional editing on the movie.

This feels like a slick home movie. The seams are sorta showing, but that adds to the charm of the proceedings. There’s a ton of imagination at play and the sets and action sequences are often quite creative. The dialogue and acting can lean towards the bad at times, but even these elements are mildly endearing. Esterson and Carganilla are cute kids. Levi and Rodriguez are appealing parents. Magnussen is an appropriately hammy heavy.

At the end of the day there are plenty of adjectives I could use to describe “Spy Kids: Armageddon” … cheesy, fun, funny, preachy (there’s a recurring theme about the importance of honesty that’s pertinent to children and adults alike) and cute. There are also Ray Harryhausen-esque skeletons to boot.