Eight years after the third film, the OSS has become the world's top spy agency, while the Spy Kids department has since become defunct. A retired spy Marissa is thrown back into the action along with her stepchildren when a maniacal Timekeeper attempts to take over the world. In order to save the world, Rebecca and Cecil must team up with their hated stepmother. Carmen and Juni have since also grown up and will provide gadgets to them.
A pleasant time-waster kids will love with a pro-family togetherness message parents can appreciate...
– Linda Barnard,
Toronto Star,
22 Aug 2011
rotten:
An endless series of scatological jokes saps the charm out of nearly every scene, and there's little effort to create an interesting mystery at the movie's center.
– Elizabeth Weitzman,
New York Daily News,
22 Aug 2011
rotten:
Rodriguez's various family-geared movies - notably the "Spy Kids'' series - have been annoying creative clunkers, the one area where doing things his way has seemed like an iffy way.
– Tom Russo,
Boston Globe,
22 Aug 2011
rotten:
Like its predecessors, a tediously cartoonish candy-colored rollercoaster.
– Nick Schager,
Village Voice,
22 Aug 2011
rotten:
Rodriguez's family franchise about underage secret agents limps into its fourth installment with shiny CGI and frequent fart jokes to hold the attention spans of the underage and undemanding.