If the first Spy Kids was reminiscent of The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (a comparison which only recently occurred to me) then this one is said Dr. T movie as remade by Ray Harryhousen.

Okay, vague film references aside, this is a fun movie that keeps kids and adults alike laughing (unless you've had that "kid" bone surgically removed from your body or finally passed that inner child like a kidney stone). The family that spies together is hit with another crisis and this time joined by the grandparents, with granddad played by Ricardo Montalban, the chance to see him atleast one more time alone worth the trip. All the gadget-reliant stuff is there but they didn't make the mistake of some franchises by letting their same old gags go stale. The kids find themselves in a situation that deprives them of their gadgets and now they have a real challenge, and naturally more laughs.

As far as the previously mentioned references, you begin to get an idea of what films the maker of this film was raised on about he middle of the movie. If you remember Jason And The Argonauts then you'll recognize a salute to it in a certain skeleton fight (and if you're even more observant you'll notice the music in that scene is also quite similar to the music from the original Argonauts film). Then there's a fight between one kid and his pet beastie and another that brought to mind a similar scene around the fountain in The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad. It definitely shows that this film's maker never grew up and that really helps to make it something worthwhile.

FInally, the fun does not end with the credits. Opposite the credits is a spy kids style music video sequence, followed by bloopers, and a last actual scene before we get credits alone... for about ten seconds before yet another insert of the treehouse.

Top to bottom, this one will have you laughing.