Spy Kids: Special Edition

2001, PG, 95 min. Directed by Robert Rodriguez. Starring Alexa Vega, Carla Gugino, Antonio Banderas, Daryl Sabara, Alan Cumming, Teri Hatcher, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Robert Patrick, Tony Shalhoub.

REVIEWED By Marjorie Baumgarten, Thu., Aug. 9, 2001

Robert Rodriguez has raised the bar for what's cool and acceptable in the all-too-placid world of the kids film market. The director elicits natural and engaging performances from the movie's child stars, but even they take a back seat to the film's wonderful array of spy gadgets, set design, and overall focus on fun. Now that the movie proved itself a hit, Dimension has decided to sink a few million more into the picture and release this "special edition" theatrically instead of just saving the added footage for the DVD release. Reports say that one of the new sequences will feature the kids swimming through a cave full of sleeping sharks ­ a sequence that was filmed but cut from the original release because the effects were simply too expensive in post-production. For further spy instructions see www.spykidsspecialedition.com.

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KEYWORDS FOR THIS FILM

Spy Kids: Special Edition, Robert Rodriguez, Alexa Vega, Carla Gugino, Antonio Banderas, Daryl Sabara, Alan Cumming, Teri Hatcher, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Robert Patrick, Tony Shalhoub

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