“Spy Kids” is a movie series directed by Robert Rodriguez, and has released four movies between the years of 2001 and 2011. A new movie, titled “Spy Kids: Armageddon”, is set to come out next year and will be the fifth film in the series. Similar to the previous “Spy Kids” movies, “Spy Kids: Armageddon” will also be filmed in Austin. 

English teacher Daniela Recalde watched the first two “Spy Kids” movies when she was a kid. She enjoyed the original movies, and especially liked being able to escape from reality through film.

“I felt weird about [Spy Kids],” Recalde said. “It was the first movie that I had ever seen in theaters. It’s not even because I was that young, necessarily, but I grew up in a family that didn’t really watch movies very much and was very conservative … and all of a sudden, we’re watching this movie about these kids with microscopic cameras and men made of thumbs.”

The “Spy Kids” movies had a big effect on Recalde because they introduced her to fantasy movies and showed her that children can be powerful too. Although Recalde has become less impressed by the movies’ effects as she has gotten older, she still enjoys them. She is looking forward to seeing how special effects have evolved with the new movie.

“I’m sure that if I went back to rewatch them, I would probably laugh at the effects in there,” Recalde said. “Part of what was really cool about the original ‘Spy Kids’ is the fact that they had all of this super cool, really advanced technology for that time… So I’m curious to see what kind of futuristic technology they’re gonna have in this new ‘Spy Kids’ movie and how they’re going to present that.”

E-Zine teacher Nancy Zamora watched the movie when she was younger due to the Latinx representation. Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez, as a Latino himself, did this intentionally so that Latinx children could relate to the film.

“I hadn’t seen something like that,  representing Latino kids, so it really piqued my interest,” Zamora said. “I was interested in watching the movie, even though I thought the movie wasn’t good. I personally didn’t like it. I still watched it. I watched all of them because of that, so that’s what got me excited to see it.”

Although Zamora doesn’t enjoy the movies very much, she still watches them because she appreciates the positive portrayal of Latinx people. For the new movie, Zamora expects more of the same.

“I remember there being water-related stuff, so maybe this time I’d like something to do with outer space, something outlandish and dangerous,” Zamora said. “I also expect some fight scenes and stuff like that.” 

Freshman Tomas Bellavia watched the first two “Spy Kids” movies when he was younger and he enjoyed the movies at the time, but he started to dislike them as he got older because the quality wasn’t good compared to current films. Still, he is looking forward to seeing how the franchise evolves as its audience gets older. 

“I hope it becomes a little more mature because all the kids that watched it when it came out will be older now,” Bellavia said. “I still want [the creators of ‘Spy Kids’] to relate back to the original fans.”

The LASA community has mixed feelings about the previous “Spy Kids” movies, but they are looking forward to seeing how the series continues to develop. “Spy Kids: Armageddon” finished filming on August 31st, bu the release date hasn’t been announced yet. The movie will once again be produced, directed, and written by Rodriguez.