Spy Kids: All the Time in the World

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (also known as Spy Kids 4-D: All the Time in the World) is a 2011 American 4D sci-fi adventure comedy film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is the fourth and final installment in the Spy Kids film series, and is a stand-alone sequel to 2003's Game Over, while also serving as a soft reboot of the franchise. The film stars Jessica Alba, Joel McHale, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Rowan Blanchard, Mason Cook, Ricky Gervais and, in a multitude of roles, Jeremy Piven. It is the only film in the series without the participation of Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino and the distribution of Miramax Films.

The film held its world premiere screening on July 31, 2011, in Los Angeles, California and was then released in the United States on August 19, 2011. It is the only film in the series that uses "Aroma-scope" that allows people to smell odors and aromas from the film via scratch & sniff cards (reminiscent of the 1981 film Polyester) last used theatrically in the 2003 animated film Rugrats Go Wild.

Plot
OSS agent Marissa Wilson (Jessica Alba) is attempting to capture a bespectacled criminal named Tick Tock (Jeremy Piven), who purchases a mini-disk stolen from OSS. Despite being nine months pregnant, she continues her pursuit against the admonitions of her boss Danger D'Amo (also played by Piven). Tick Tock is captured and the mini-disk, which contains information on a weapon of mass destruction called Project: Armageddon, is retrieved.

At the hospital, Marissa meets her spy-hunting TV host husband, Wilbur (Joel McHale), who thinks she is an interior decorator and has never caught a spy, and her two stepchildren by him, twins Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook). Marissa gives birth to a daughter, Maria. Wilbur has created a 5-year plan in which if his show is successful, he will spend more time with the kids. Rebecca does not accept Marissa as a replacement for her deceased mother and delights in playing pranks on her. Attempting to strengthen her rapport with Rebecca, Marissa gives her a red-sapphire necklace that she says her own parents gave her when she was Rebecca's age.

The media reports that time is speeding up at an increasing rate. A criminal mastermind called the Time Keeper claims responsibility, saying that he will unleash Project: Armageddon as a punishment upon a society that he believes wastes time with meaningless pursuits instead of treasuring time with the loved ones. The Time Keeper demands that Tick Tock bring him the Chronos Sapphire, which is revealed to be the jewel in the necklace Marissa gave to Rebecca. The OSS calls Marissa out of retirement and instructs her to bring the Chronos Sapphire with her. When Marissa asks for it from Rebecca, it further strains their relationship. When Marissa arrives at OSS headquarters, she discovers that the box Rebecca gave her did not contain the jewel, but it contained baby food.

Tick Tock's henchmen break into Marissa's house, and Rebecca and Cecil are directed to take refuge in a Panic Room, where they view a video of Marissa informing them of her secret career and that their dog Argonaut is revealed a talking, weaponized robot (Ricky Gervais). The twins escape and go to OSS headquarters, where Marissa's niece and their step-cousin, Carmen Cortez (Alexa Vega), gives the twins a tour of the defunct Spy Kids Division.

Rebecca and Cecil go after the Time Keeper. Their search leads them to a clock shop, which is Tick Tock's headquarters. The twins view a video of the Wells Experiment, which reveals the nature of the Chronos Sapphire in Rebecca's necklace, as it saves a boy frozen in time by the experiment. The twins are captured by Tick Tock but are rescued by Marissa and Carmen, though Tick Tock manages to steal the Sapphire. Wilbur begins an investigation to capture his first spy, informing his cameraman of his 5-year plan. The cameraman digresses it since the kids will have grown up in 5 years, and he should spend time with them before their childhood is over. Wilbur's investigation leads him to the clock shop, but he is shocked to learn that Marissa is a spy. When he destroys the footage that he and his cameraman filmed of the battle, he is fired and becomes estranged from Marissa and the children.

As time continues to speed up, OSS agents are debriefed on the Wells Experiment. The OSS shut down the experiment, and placed the device under lockdown. Among the agents assigned to the case is Carmen's estranged brother, Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara). The twins confront Danger over the fact that his watch is similar to the one worn by the Time Keeper, and his name is an anagram of "Armageddon." He reveals that he is the Time Keeper and imprisons them. When a group of OSS agents led by Marissa, Carmen, and Juni return to the clock shop to confront the Time Keeper, he freezes the agents in time using circuity in their ID badges and does the same to 18 major cities. Juni, who wasn't frozen due to Carmen angrily throwing his ID badge, manages to free Marissa and Carmen.

Danger reveals that his father was head of the Wells Experiment, and he was the boy frozen in time. His father spent the rest of his life trying unsuccessfully to set him free. The OSS managed to shut down the experiment with the Chronos Sapphire. Now Danger plans to use the Armageddon Device to go back in time to spend more time with his father. Cecil deduces that Danger has already tried this before multiple times, but he comes back worse each time and reveals that Tick Tock and his minions are all versions of himself. Rebecca tells Danger that he should use what time he has wisely instead of trying to acquire more of it. When the time vortex opens, Danger finally meets his father, then he returns as an elderly form of himself and realizes that Cecil was right as he could not change anything. He shuts down the device, and Tick Tock is apprehended by Wilbur, who is reunited with Marissa and the children, promising he won't wait to have time for them, instead he will make time for them. Carmen and Juni announce they will co-lead a revived Spy Kids program, while Rebecca and Cecil become recruiters of new agents, including the kids watching the movie.

Cast

 * Rowan Blanchard as Rebecca Wilson, Wilbur's daughter, and Marissa's step-daughter.
 * Mason Cook as Cecil Wilson, Wilbur's son and Marissa's step-son who has hearing loss.
 * Jessica Alba as Marissa Wilson (née Cortez), Rebecca and Cecil's stepmother and Carmen and Juni's paternal aunt.
 * Joel McHale as Wilbur Wilson, Marissa's spy-hunting reporter husband.
 * Alexa Vega as Carmen Cortez, a top-secret agent for the OSS and former Spy Kid.
 * Daryl Sabara as Juni Cortez, a formerly retired OSS agent and former Spy Kid.


 * Ricky Gervais as the voice of Argonaut, Rebecca and Cecil's robot dog.
 * Belle and Genny Solorzano as Maria Wilson, Marissa and Wilbur's daughter, and Rebecca and Cecil's half-sister.
 * Jeremy Piven as Danger D'Amo/Time Keeper, Tick Tock, Danger's Father, and the Time Keeper's henchmen.
 * Danny Trejo as Isador "Machete" Cortez, Carmen and Juni's uncle.
 * Angela Lanza as Female Spy OSS Agent
 * Angus Creech as Extra

Development
Robert Rodriguez was prompted by an incident on the set of Machete to start envisioning a fourth film in the Spy Kids series. Star Jessica Alba had her then-one year old baby Honor Marie and was dressed to appear on camera when her baby's diaper "exploded". Watching Alba change the diaper while trying not to get anything on her clothes prompted Rodriguez to think "What about a spy mom?" Production on the film was officially announced on September 25, 2009, six years after the release of Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, by Dimension Films. The script for the film was completed by Robert Rodriguez in December 2009. The title for the film was officially revealed as Spy Kids: All the Time in the World on March 24, 2010 as well as an August 2011 release window, which was later updated to an August 19, 2011 release date.

Filming
Filming began in the fall on October 27, 2010. Filming concluded in February 2011.

Critical response
The film received generally negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 22% based on reviews from 59 critics, with an average rating of 3.9 out of 10. The websites consensus states "Burdened by a rote plot and unfunny scatological humor, All the Time in the World suggests that the Spy Kids franchise has run its course." On Metacritic it has a score of 37 out of 100 based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a B-plus on an A-plus to F scale. Common Sense Media gave the film 1 out of 5 stars. The website reads, "Positive messages can't save worst film in action series."

Box office
The film took in $4 million on its opening day and $11 million over the three-day weekend, debuting in third place behind The Help and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. That was on the low end of expectations, but an executive of The Weinstein Company said, "We're okay with this number. We're going to be in good shape with this film, and it will play for the rest of the summer". The following weekend, it dropped 48% to $6 million, and took sixth place, and on the following weekend, it earned an additional $6.8 million over the four-day Labor Day Weekend. As of November 2011, the film earned $38 million in the U.S and $47 million in other countries for a worldwide gross of $85 million, becoming the poorest performing film in the series.

Home media
The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray and on DVD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy combo packs on November 22, 2011.

Reboot
Dimension Films had announced the fifth installment in the  Spy Kids series following Spy Kids: All the Time in the World. It was under talks to have the original cast expected to return. However, the film was permanently delayed from its intended 2012 production, as the film's stars Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook, who are no longer kids, were both committing to current projects (Girl Meets World and Speechless respectively), and the planned sequel got cancelled as a result. On June 16, 2016, Netflix and The Weinstein Company announced an animated CGI reboot of the Spy Kids film series titled Spy Kids: Mission Critical, which was released in 2018.