Best - Spy Kids

: For Spy Kids 2 , Rodriguez requested the exact same budget as the first film ($38 million) in exchange for total creative freedom from the studio, which he used to double the special effects and pay homage to old-school "Ray Harryhausen" style creature adventures.

No, wait, wrong movie. But the same vibe. Spy Kids

He wrote the script in two weeks. He built the gadgets out of off-the-shelf toys and computer mice. He cast Antonio Banderas (a dramatic heartthrob) and Carla Gugino (a serious actress) and told them to play everything with the earnestness of a telenovela. But the secret sauce was the casting of Alexa PenaVega and Daryl Sabara as Carmen and Juni Cortez. They weren't child prodigies; they were awkward, squabbling siblings who happened to have a secret spy agency in their basement. : For Spy Kids 2 , Rodriguez requested

In the current era of IP cinema, everything must be dark, gritty, and "elevated." We have a Winnie the Pooh horror movie. We have a violent Teletubbies edit. Cynicism is the default setting. He wrote the script in two weeks