Having made an impact with his first few films, El Mariachi, Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn, all of which were very much aimed at adult audiences, US director Robert Rodriguez pivoted in a completely different direction in 2001 with his family film Spy Kids.

It is a series that he personally puts a lot of effort into, having written and directed all the entries to date, including this fifth, rebooted instalment.

Brother and sister Tony (Connor Esterson) and Patty (Everly Carganilla) love playing video games, much like every other kid on the planet. Their parents Terrence (Zachary Levi) and Nora (Gina Rodriguez) however, only allow specific periods of screen time, trying to do the right thing by them. But it’s not enough when a new game is being launched that they both need to play, so they bend the rules a little, so they can be one of the first to get their hands on it.

Little do they know however, is that they’re not downloading just a game, but a virus, that is going to spread worldwide, that takes control of every electronic device, forcing people to play the game – and win – before they can access them.

Obviously when their parents find out, they’re not best pleased, especially as it turns out that they are in fact spies. And as they’re not familiar with the gaming world, it looks like they have two new recruits on their hands with Tony and Patty. But can the four of them really take down this evil genius?

With this being the fifth entry in the franchise, and a forced reboot at that – pesky kids have a habit of growing up, making it difficult for those in their twenties to get away as the ‘kids’ in the film’s titles. So chance for a fresh start then, which would be no bad thing, considering it’s a franchise that is far from being a global success.

The bad news is however, that the film is bad. Like a real stinker bad. For the most part the film comes across as a poor Disney Theme park experience, crossed with a type of dreadful escape room, with very low production values.

Considering the advances film and TV have made with incredible young actors in quite complicated roles, the stars of this dire affair come across as rejects from the Mickey Mouse Club. There’s an unbearable cheesiness to proceedings, that makes it quite a painful watch.

It’s almost as if Rodriguez has a split personality: you have the gifted director who can make impressive films for adults, and then you have the Rodriguez who enjoys making ‘cute’ family films, but having absolutely no idea how to make a good one. Really, it’s like they’re two very different people.

Perhaps it just shows that making family films aren’t as easy as you would believe, certainly that’s the case for Rodriguez, with all his Spy Kids films feeling somewhat amateurish in quality in every area.

There is a case argued that possibly they hit the mark with their target audience, but they would have to be very, very young, almost infantile, especially when you consider how more sophisticated youngsters are these days. You might have been able to get away with this silly shtick in the early eighties, but definitely not now.

There’s only one way that you should allow your children to watch this, and that’s to punish them. But trust us, they would have to be very, very bad to deserve this.