REVIEW
SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER
Starring Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega
Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Opens Friday, July 25
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In attempting to finish the Spy Kids trilogy before the stars hit puberty, writer/director Robert Rodriguez was fighting the clock. As usual, Rodriguez took his limitations and made them assets by computer-generating the bulk of Spy Kids 3-D. The result may not have the magic of the first two films, but you can't fault its heart.
This time round, Spy Kid Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara) has renounced the OSS and is working as a rogue agent, until he learns that his sister is in danger. Agent Carmen Cortez (Alexa Vega) has been trapped inside a video game, battling an evil madman known as the Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone). It is now up to Juni to beat the game, save his sister and keep the Toymaker from escaping cyberspace.
While this may sound like a cheap excuse to sell tie-in video game merchandise, Spy Kids 3-D proves to be an excellent remake of Tron. The gimmick is that whenever Juni is inside the game, audiences don glasses for a 3-D extravaganza. At times, watching the film is akin to watching someone else play a video game, but by making it 3-D, Rodriguez has masked any flaws in the animation.
All tricks aside, the film continues in the tradition of the Spy Kids series by being packed with action, treating child audiences with respect and singing the praises of family without being cheesy. The kids have grown and their acting is much better. Vega's screen time is limited – which is a shame because she was always the stronger of the two – but Sabara surprisingly does a fine job carrying the film. In the summer of sequels, Spy Kids 3-D holds its own and delivers car chases and robot brawls that are a lot of fun to watch.
What Spy Kids 3-D does best, though, is prove that Rodriguez is a genius. He has found a perfect outlet for Stallone's over-the-top acting style and he has turned Ricardo Montalban into an action hero. Add to that the fact that Rodriguez wrote, directed, shot, edited, recorded, scored and mixed this film, and you can see why he was able to parlay the $7,500 he spent shooting El Mariachi into a very successful film career.
Spy Kids 3-D is certainly not as strong as its predecessors and even at an hour-and-a-half it feels a little long, but that's more than can be said for most action films these days. It will certainly tide fans over until Rodriguez releases Once Upon a Time in Mexico later this year. |
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