It’s been almost fifteen years since there was a new “Spy Kids” installment and one of the last times Robert Rodriguez released a film in theaters (he’s apparently locked in to Netflix like Adam Sandler). Sadly, these days Robert Rodriguez seems more committed to delivering low budget kid accessible entertainment more than anything else, and “Spy Kids: Armageddon” allows him to kill two birds with one stone. Not only is he able to continue his line of mediocre family films, but he gets to revive his long stagnant action franchise for a new generation.
And the results are decidedly a mixed bag.
Robert Rodriguez proves with “Machete” that his and Tarantino’s little experiment entitled “Grindhouse” was much more of a failure than fans originally suspected. While both of their original films were basic flops at the box-office, Rodriguez is given another shot with “Machete” a film that began life in popularity as a mock grindhouse trailer before “Planet Terror” and eventually became a feature length film. And much like most of Rodriguez’ films, he takes what could have been an amazing premise and turns it in to a scattered, confusing, and muddled piece of action cinema that throws a host of characters at the screen, all of whom he can barely keep up with at one time.