Spy Kids: All the Time in the World

Spy Kids:
All the Time in the World
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Rodriguez
Written byRobert Rodriguez
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography
  • Robert Rodriguez
  • Jimmy Lindsey
Edited byDan Zimmerman
Music by
  • Robert Rodriguez
  • Carl Thiel
Production
company
Distributed byDimension Films[1]
Release dates
  • July 31, 2011 (2011-07-31) (L.A. Live)
  • August 19, 2011 (2011-08-19) (United States)
Running time
89 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$27 million[3]
Box office$85.6 million[4]

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (also known as Spy Kids in 4D: All the Time in the World) is a 2011 American spy action comedy film co-produced, written, co-shot, co-composed, and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is the standalone sequel to Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) and the fourth installment in the Spy Kids film series. The film stars Jessica Alba, Joel McHale, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Rowan Blanchard, Mason Cook, Ricky Gervais, and Jeremy Piven.

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World premiered at L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California on July 31, 2011, and was released in the United States on August 19, by Dimension Films.[1] The film used "Aroma-scope", which allowed audiences to smell odors and aromas from the film through scratch and sniff cards.[5] It received generally negative reviews from critics and grossed over $85 million worldwide against a production budget of $27 million, becoming the least-grossing film in the series. A fifth film, Spy Kids: Armageddon, was released in 2023.

Plot[edit]

OSS agent Marissa Wilson is attempting to capture a criminal named Tick Tock, who purchases a mini-disk stolen from the OSS. Despite being nine months pregnant and going into labor, she continues her pursuit against the admonitions of her boss Danger D'Amo. Tick Tock is captured and the mini-disk, which contains information on a weapon of mass destruction called Project: Armageddon, is retrieved.

At the hospital, Marissa meets her spy-hunting TV host husband, Wilbur, and her two stepchildren, twins Rebecca and Cecil. Marissa gives birth to a daughter, Maria. A year later, Wilbur has created a 5-year plan in which if his show is successful, he will spend more time with the kids. Rebecca does not accept Marissa as a replacement for her deceased mother and delights in playing pranks on her. Attempting to strengthen her rapport with Rebecca, Marissa gives her a red-sapphire necklace. The media reports that time is speeding up at an increasing rate.

A criminal mastermind called the Time Keeper claims responsibility, saying that he will unleash Project: Armageddon as a punishment upon a society that he believes wastes time with meaningless pursuits instead of treasuring time with their loved ones. The Time Keeper demands that Tick Tock bring him the Chronos Sapphire, which is revealed to be the jewel in the necklace Marissa gave to Rebecca. The OSS calls Marissa out of retirement and instructs her to bring the Sapphire with her. When Marissa asks for it from Rebecca, it further strains their relationship.

At OSS Headquarters, Marissa discovers that Rebecca has swapped out the Chronos Sapphire for baby food. Tick Tock's henchmen break into Marissa's house, and Rebecca and Cecil are directed to take refuge in a Panic Room, where they view a video of Marissa informing them of her secret career and that their dog Argonaut is a talking, weaponized robot. The twins escape and go to OSS headquarters, where Marissa's niece and their step-cousin, Carmen Cortez, gives the twins a tour of the defunct Spy Kids Division, allowing them to take a gadget as a souvenir each.

The twins go after the Time Keeper, where their search leads them to a clock shop, which is Tick Tock's headquarters. The twins view a video of the Wells Experiment, which reveals the nature of the Chronos Sapphire in Rebecca's necklace, as it saves a boy frozen in time by the experiment. The twins are captured by Tick Tock but are rescued by Marissa and Carmen, though Tick Tock manages to steal the Sapphire. Wilbur begins an investigation to capture his first spy and unknowingly captures footage of his family fighting off the Time Keeper's henchmen.

Shocked to learn that Marissa is a spy, he gets fired when he destroys the footage that he and his cameraman filmed of the battle and becomes estranged from Marissa and the children. As time continues to speed up, OSS agents are debriefed on the Wells Experiment. The OSS shut down the experiment and place the device under lockdown. Among the agents assigned to the case is Carmen's estranged brother, Juni Cortez. The twins confront Danger over the fact that his watch is similar to the one worn by the Time Keeper, and his name is an anagram of "Armageddon".

He reveals that he is the Time Keeper and imprisons them in their room. When a group of OSS agents led by Marissa, Carmen, and Juni return to the clock shop to confront the Time Keeper, he freezes the agents in time using circuitry in their ID badges and does the same to 18 major cities. Juni, who wasn't frozen due to Carmen angrily throwing away his ID badge into the trash, manages to free Marissa and Carmen. Danger reveals the Armageddon Device was created to travel back in time and that his father was head of the Wells Experiment, and he was the boy frozen in time.

His father spent the rest of his life trying unsuccessfully to set him free. The OSS managed to shut down the experiment with a solution that "literally fell from the sky", the Chronos Sapphire. Now, Danger plans to use the Armageddon Device to go back in time to spend more time with his father. Cecil deduces that Danger has already tried this multiple times, but he comes back worse each time and reveals that Tick Tock and his minions are all versions of himself. Rebecca tells Danger that he should use what time he has wisely instead of trying to acquire more.

Danger enters the finally open time vortex and goes to finally meets his father, then he returns as an elderly form of himself and realizes that Cecil was right. He shuts down the device, and Tick Tock is apprehended by Wilbur, who is reunited with Marissa and the children, promising he won't wait to have time for them, instead, he will make time for them. Carmen and Juni announce they will co-lead a revived Spy Kids program, while Rebecca and Cecil become recruiters of new agents, including the audience members watching the movie.

Cast[edit]

  • Rowan Blanchard as Rebecca Wilson, Wilbur's daughter and Marissa's stepdaughter.
  • Mason Cook as Cecil Wilson, Wilbur's son and Marissa's stepson who has hearing loss.
  • Jessica Alba as Marissa Wilson (née Cortez), Rebecca and Cecil's stepmother, Gregorio and Machete's sister, and Carmen and Juni's paternal aunt.
  • Joel McHale as Wilbur Wilson, Marissa's spy-hunting reporter husband.
  • Alexa Vega as Carmen Cortez, a top-secret agent for the OSS and former Spy Kid.
  • Daryl Sabara as Juni Cortez, Carmen's brother, a formerly retired OSS agent and former Spy Kid.
  • Ricky Gervais as the voice of Argonaut, Rebecca, and Cecil's robot dog.
  • Jeremy Piven as Dane "Danger" D'Amo/Timekeeper, the leader of OSS who becomes a supervillain. Piven also portrays Tick-Tock, the Timekeeper's second in command, as well as Professor D'Amo (Danger's father) and the Time Keeper's henchmen.

Additionally, Belle and Genny Solorzano portray Maria Wilson/Spy Baby, Marissa and Wilbur's daughter, and Rebecca and Cecil's half-sister. Danny Trejo portrays Isador "Machete" Cortez, Carmen and Juni's uncle and Marissa's brother and Angela Lanza portrays Female Spy OSS Agent.

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

Robert Rodriguez was prompted by an incident on the set of Machete (a stand-alone film focusing on the Spy Kids supporting character of the same name) to start envisioning a fourth main film in the Spy Kids series. Star Jessica Alba had her then-one year old baby Honor Marie and was dressed to appear on camera when her baby's diaper "exploded". Watching Alba change the diaper while trying not to get anything on her clothes prompted Rodriguez to think "What about a spy mom?"[6][7] Production on the film was officially announced in September 2009, six years after the release of Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, by Dimension Films.[8] The script for the film was completed by Robert Rodriguez in December the same year.[9] The title for the film was officially revealed as Spy Kids: All the Time in the World as well as an August 2011 release window,[10] which was later updated to an August 19 release date.[11]

Filming[edit]

Filming began on October 27, 2010[12] and concluded in February 2011.[13]

Release[edit]

Home media[edit]

The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray and on DVD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy combo packs on November 22, 2011.[14]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

The film took in $4 million on its opening day and $11 million over the three-day weekend, debuting in third place behind The Help and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. That was on the low end of expectations, but an executive of The Weinstein Company said: "We're okay with this number. We're going to be in good shape with this film, and it will play for the rest of the summer".[citation needed] The following weekend, it dropped 48% to $6 million, and took sixth place, and on the following weekend, it earned an additional $6.8 million over the four-day Labor Day Weekend. As of November 2011, the film earned $38 million in the U.S and $47 million in other countries for a worldwide gross of $85 million, becoming the poorest performing film in the series.[4]

Critical response[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 23% based on 61 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The website's critics consensus states: "Burdened by a rote plot and unfunny scatological humor, All the Time in the World suggests that the Spy Kids franchise has run its course."[15] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 37 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[17]

Common Sense Media gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, writing: "Positive messages can't save [the] worst film in action series".[18]

Accolades[edit]

Year Award Category Nominee Result
2011 ALMA Award Favorite Movie Won
2012 Blimp Award Favorite Butt Kicker Jessica Alba Won
2012 Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor and Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actress Ten and Under Mason Cook and Rowan Blanchard Nominated

Sequel[edit]

Dimension Films had announced the fifth installment in the Spy Kids film series, shortly following the release of All the Time in the World, with intentions to have the cast return in their respective roles. However, the project entered development hell, and with the movie's new children actors Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook aging through the years, the project was seemingly abandoned.[19]

By January 2021 however, a relaunch of the franchise was announced as being is in development, as a Netflix exclusive film. Robert Rodriguez returned as director, in addition to serving as co-writer with his son Racer Max. The project was a joint-venture production between Skydance Media and Spyglass Media Group. Netflix acquired the distribution rights for the film. Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Everly Carganilla, Connor Esterson and Billy Magnussen serve as the starring family of the production. The filmmaker later explained that Armageddon incorporated a new family because so much time had passed since All the Time in the World, and so he wanted to incorporate a new set of characters before returning to what came before.[20]

Future[edit]

In September 2023, Rodriguez confirmed that Netflix intends to develop additional Spy Kids movies,[20] with the filmmaker expressing hope to begin production on a sequel the following year.[21] Rodriguez confirmed that he intends to bring back "legacy characters" from the previous installments in any future movies.[20]

Animated television series[edit]

Main article: Spy Kids: Mission Critical

An animated series based on the films, Spy Kids: Mission Critical, was released in 2018 on Netflix.[22]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The Walt Disney Company had to cut their own share with The Weinstein Company to 5% after the latter party lost their bid to reclaim Miramax Films.[23][24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D (2011)". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  2. ^ "Spy Kids – All the Time in the World". British Board of Film Classification. August 11, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  3. ^ Kaufman, Amy (August 18, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Conan' may not conquer 'The Help'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  5. ^ "'Spy Kids 4' Hitting Theaters with an All-New Form of Smell-O-Vision". FirstShowing.net. June 24, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  6. ^ Wilson, Lisa (August 15, 2011). "Busy Alba relates to 'Spy Kids' mom". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on September 17, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  7. ^ Thompson, Bob (August 14, 2011). "Spy mom, real mom". ottawacitizen.com. Retrieved August 14, 2011.[dead link]
  8. ^ Connelly, Brendon (September 25, 2009). "Dimension Confirm Details of Scream 4, Spy Kids 4, An American Werewolf in London Redux and More". SlashFilm. Archived from the original on October 31, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  9. ^ Connelly, Brendon (December 21, 2009). "Robert Rodriguez Sequel Log-Jam: More Machete, Sin City 2 and Spy Kids Reboot". SlashFilm. Archived from the original on October 7, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  10. ^ Moody, Mike (March 24, 2010). "'Spy Kids 4' to be released August 2011". DS Movies. Digital Spy. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  11. ^ Rich, Katey (March 24, 2010). "Spy Kids 4 Sets August 2011 Release Date". Cinema Blend. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  12. ^ Lussier, Germain (October 27, 2010). "'Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World' Now Shooting; Jeremy Piven Playing The Villain". SlashFilm. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  13. ^ "Jessica Alba Announces Pregnancy After Wrapping 'Spy Kids'". The Hollywood Reporter. February 16, 2011.
  14. ^ "Spy Kids 4: All The Time in the World". Amazon. November 22, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  15. ^ "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D". Rotten Tomatoes. August 20, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  16. ^ "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. August 19, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  17. ^ Finke, Nikki (August 21, 2011). "'Conan', 'Fright Night', 'Spy Kids 4D' Flatline; 'The Help' Needs No Help At No. 1, 'Apes' #2". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  18. ^ "Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World - Movie Review". www.commonsensemedia.org. May 12, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  19. ^ "Dimension Films Announces Production Of Spy Kids 5 In 5D". The MQ. September 21, 2004. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  20. ^ a b c Polowy, Kevin (September 22, 2023). "Can 'Spy Kids' be the next James Bond? Robert Rodriguez has a plan". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  21. ^ Peralta, Diego (September 21, 2023). "Robert Rodriguez Gives an Update on 'We Can Be Heroes' Sequel". Collider. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  22. ^ Brian Steinberg (June 16, 2016). "Netflix Readies Animated 'Spy Kids', 'Llama Llama' Series (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  23. ^ "Miramax movies, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Ron Tutor". NYDailyNews.com. February 3, 2011.
  24. ^ "Bob Weinstein Updates us on SCREAM 4, SPY KIDS 4, HALLOWEEN 3, and Other Dimension Film Projects". Collider. September 25, 2009.

External links[edit]

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