Spy Kids 4 Star Alexa PenaVega Feels Like The Sequel Was Kind of A Miss

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World star Alexa PenaVega describes the film as “kind of a miss.” Twenty years after it first premiered, the Spy Kids franchise, while still beloved by many who grew up in the 90s, sits in a strange limbo; in part this was a result of the lackluster reception of the fourth installment in 2011. PenaVega’s career sky-rocketed after her performance as Carmen Cortez who, as one half of the titular kids alongside her brother Juni (Daryl Sabara), discovers that her parents are secret agents and end up following in their footsteps. Directed by Robert Rodriguez, the first film proved a huge success and spawned three sequels.

In many ways, Spy Kids 4 is the black-sheep of the family as it focused on an entirely new family rather than the Cortezes. It starred Jessica Alba as a retired spy who is called back into action and brings along her new step-children (Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook). While not the direct focus, the film did feature PenaVega and Sabara in supporting roles in an attempt to pass the torch to the new generation. The film received greatly negative reviews upon its release for its poor plot and unfunny humor, which focused heavily on the scatological in order to maximize the film’s incorporation of 4-D ‘Aroma-scope’, which allowed audiences to smell odors in the film by way of scratch-and-sniff cards.

Speaking to Insider about her experiences of working on the Spy Kids franchise, PenaVega admitted that, while she enjoyed working on Spy Kids 4 due to the nostalgia and being able to reconnect with cast and crew members, the fourth installment ultimately felt like it “didn’t count”. She explained that this was because the film “was like this weird one-off that they didn’t do anything else with and I really felt like they could have taken advantage of the Cortez family a little bit more” and was ultimately “kind of a miss.” You can read PenaVega’s full statement below:

“We were just so excited to get back on set again. Robert uses the same crew over and over and over again so we were hanging out talking about the good old days and you being able to see those gadgets again, those sets again was super nostalgic. But it almost kind of feels like Spy Kids 4 didn’t count. Only because it was like this weird one-off that they didn’t do anything else with and I really felt like they could have taken advantage of the Cortez family a little bit more. I do feel like … Spy Kids 4 was kind of miss. I feel like Daryl would agree with me. It was like a bit of a weird bittersweet movie, but we’re so thankful we’ve done it because it was good seeing everybody again.”

While it’s good to hear that PenaVega looks back fondly on the fourth film due to it offering her the chance to reconnect with old friends, it’s understandable why she would feel it was a “bittersweet movie.” The series was already running short on fumes when the Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over landed in 2003, as it focused too heavily into its 3-D effects in order to appear relevant. Coming eight years later, Spy Kids 4 was an attempt at a reboot but its poor reception, and the commitment of its child-stars to other projects, effectively killed any future projects.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that another reboot of the Spy Kids franchise was in development, and PenaVega has since stated that she  would be open to returning to the franchise. Hopefully if the series is to return to its past glory, then the reboot can forego the gimmicks that caused the latter two films to fail, especially Spy Kids 4, and instead focus on what the made the original such a hit. Whether PenaVega and Sabara will return remains up in the air, but considering they were the driving force behind the original films, it would certainly be a positive step if they did.

Source: Insider

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