"Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl”
Miramax Films
Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Starring Cayden Boyd, Taylor Lautner, Taylor Dooley, George Lopez, Kristen Davis and David Arquette
Rated PG

2 Stars

Texas filmmaker Robert Rodriguez follows his ultra-adult film “Sin City” with another kiddie-adventure in the vein of his popular “Spy Kids” movies. Which means that we get an hour and a half of bad child actors, non-stop cartoon special effects and another chance for kids to get excited about wearing those uncomfortable 3D glasses. This is a film that targets eight year old kids and woe unto any adult who happens to wander into the theater.

Written by Rodriguez’ son Racer, this is the tale of Max, an unhappy Texas fourth grader who has created a fantasy world populated by child-sized super heroes. His classmates tease him about his Sharkboy and Lavagirl creations until they actually show up at school one day, asking Max to come with them and help them save their home planet. Lest you have any doubts that a kid wrote the story, the planet’s name is Planet Drool and it’s filled with locations like the Land of Milk and Cookies.

I’m not trying to be harsh. This is, after all, a kiddie flick and they are not the most discriminating of audiences. Then again, I can’t help but notice that “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl” doesn’t have half of the heart that “Spy Kids” had. Even the film’s message of never giving up on your dreams seems like something of an after thought.

The cartoony effects are pretty good considering the low-budget that Rodriguez uses for his movies, and the kids should be more than happy with the non-stop action and comic adventure. So the bottom line is that while “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl” isn’t a great or even a memorable family film, it will probably satisfy your young ones until the next family flick comes out (that would be “Herbie” on June 24th).

Movie reviews by Sean McBride, “The Movie Guy,” are published Wednesdays and Fridays in “The Port Arthur News.” For more reviews, log on to www.seanthemovieguy.com. Sean welcomes your comments via email at emshon@cox.net.