'Teen James Bond' That Flopped in 2006 Actually Has a Way Better TV Show & Season 3 Is Coming
Thought it was yet another childhood-ruiner? Quite the opposite!
Oh to be a kid in 2006 watching those spy thrillers and imagining oneself on a secret mission! Anyone who grew up in the era of Spy Kids and the like knows just how desperately we crave to be recruited by secret spy agencies and go save the world sometimes.
But not all movies and shows of that time were picture-perfect. For instance, let us invoke the memories you didn't ask for: remember the Alex Rider movie with Alex Pettyfer, titled Stormbreaker? Oh yes, that 2006 kid version of James Bond minus the budget, minus the charisma and minus everything?
These days, rewatching such a movie would be so bad it would actually be good. However, if you're a fan of spy thrillers or even the Alex Rider series itself (OGs remember the movie was based on Anthony Horowitz's books, right?), you don't necessarily have to suffer through whatever the 18-year-old Stormbreaker movie was.
The year 2020 was not a perfect one, but it was a great year to be an Alex Rider fan, because that's when the spy kid finally received a decent TV adaptation. The young adult story about a British teenager recruited by MI6 had a tough ride: after finding home at Prime Video, the second season had to be moved to IMDb TV.
Season 3 is a go, but once again, Alex Rider has to jump the platform: this time, his new adventures will unfold on Freevee.
It's still a young adult spy story and you have to treat it as such, so don't be too surprised to stumble upon clichés, but clearly, the new TV show does a much better job than the 2006 movie did.
In Stormbreaker, which adapted the first novel of the Alex Rider series, the titular hero was portrayed by Alex Pettyfer, and even the things that worked in 2006 don't seem to work today. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has 36% from critics and a slightly better audience score of 53%.
The TV show, however, boasts a 86% from viewers, and it's a rare occasion of a modern adaptation besting the 2000s original. Turns out, even nostalgia doesn't always help.
Season 3 of Alex Rider premieres on Freevee on April 5.