Jessica Alba Spy Kids 4 Pic

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the theater, Robert Rodriguez comes out with another film in the dismal Spy Kids franchise. Fortunately, the gang at Empire reveals that the stale concept has been freshened up, so it might not be so bad.

This time around, things are livened up a little bit by bringing in Jessica Alba. Her presence might not improve Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World, but she’s definitely not hard on the eyes. Alba plays Marissa Cortez Wilson, a seemingly ordinary woman living a seemingly ordinary life with husband Wilbur (Joel McHale), their baby daughter, and Wilbur’s kids, Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook), who, as usual, aren’t thrilled with having Marissa as their step-mom.

Things change when the world is threatened by the Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) and Marissa has to come out of retirement and return to being a spy. In addition to that old storyline being re-used, the Spy Kids program is re-activated with step-kids Cecil and Rebecca brought in as the new agents. Of course, the newbies need some training, so old pro’s Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni (Daryl Sabara) Cortez from the previous three films are brought in to help out.

While there is a little new added to the mix, you might think you’ve seen this film before because, in addition to Carmen and Juni, other familiar faces like Gregorio Cortez (Antonio Lopez) and his brother Machete (Danny Trejo) will also be showing up.

It sounds like another case of ‘been there, done that’ but I’m all for Alba in a skintight catsuit so I’ll probably be checking this one out when it arrives in theaters on August 19th.