It wasn’t so long ago we tackled the first three Spy Kids titles in a big old multi-review over the weekend, and all that was building up for what we’re about to hit today. The folks out at Anchor Bay sent over a copy of Spy Kids 4: All The Time In The World for us to review

Spy Kids: All The Time In The World kicks things off by introducing us to Marissa Cortez Wilson, who’s gotten married to reality show host slash quasi-legendary spy hunter Wilbur Wilson, and now has two stepkids to her credit. Marissa happens to be a former spy herself, but finds herself called back into the fray by the appearance of the Timekeeper, a maniac with designs on world domination. But Marissa can’t tackle this alone–she’s going to need the whole family, husband, stepkids…and a couple other, more familiar Cortezes…to step in and help out to put the Timekeeper on a permanent pause.

And in the grandest Spy Kids tradition, it’s going to be full of thoroughly wild yet reasonably family friendly action in which no one gets shot or even seriously hurt but most everybody will be in mortal danger at some point. There will even be a few good shout outs here to earlier work like Shorts (there’s a great sequence you’ll miss if you’re not careful featuring the two stepkids engaging in a breath-holding contest), as well as a sequence that’s a lot like the first movie in which the kids have to hit a panic room at the last minute.

It’s also got that same immature humor vibe going on–wait until you see what the Wilson kids use to fend off three henchmen flying around on Green Goblin-style flying wings, not to mention the offensive weaponry (in every sense of the term) that the dog can bring to bear–that makes this clearly geared for the kids.

Still though, it’s an improvement over the third one, which is a distinct surprise, but at the same time, it’s quite a bit of a retread given the earlier versions we’ve seen so far. It’s great fun if you like the Spy Kids franchise, and though it likely won’t win very many new fans, it’s still reasonably fun and can be endured for the most part. It’s even got some rather nice twists, some of which you might see coming, and others you might not. But I definitely have to respect a movie that does this much twist in its script. It’s a bit heavy handed in its morals, but still, not half bad.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives Spy Kids: All The Time In The World a seven out of ten, for succeeding in the design of its script but failing in the content, and making what is overall a worthwhile package.