Although the first two Spy Kids movies were major blockbuster successes, the third and final chapter to the Spy Kids trilogy, Spy Kids 3D: Game Over falls way short of the first two and is entertaining, at best.
The loveable sibling duo Carmen and Juni Cortez are back at it again to do what they do best: saving the world, Spy Kids style. Except this time around, Carmen Cortez (Alexa Vega) is stuck inside a virtual reality game designed and controlled by a malicious villain, the Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone). And it is up to her sibling; Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara) to enter inside the game to come to her rescue, and also must shut down the game before it enslaves all the youth of the world.
Game Over offers up more of that binding family unity stuff, just as much as the original two films did, but this second sequel includes very little "family" unity. Game Over is mostly about Juni this time, and his adventures through the virtual reality game. He certainly has improved on self-confidence from the first two films, as he sets out on the journey with the burden upon his shoulders to save his sister and the world. Given one person to help him on his journey, he settles for the mild help of his Grandfather Cortez (Ricardo Montalban) who apparently has his own score to settle with the Toymaker.
Gaining the support of other gamers inside the game, Juni and his Grandfather advance through the game's five levels. After advancing to level five, where Carmen is, they reunite. But it seems the chemistry that seemed to exist between the brother-sister duo is less-than-explosive this time. The Cortez parents, Gregorio (Antonio Banderas) and Ingrid Cortez (Carla Gugino) make short appearances at the very end of the movie, as well as the loveable Uncle Machete (Danny Trejo), Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming), and many others. The film includes a surprising cast: Sylvester Stallone, Salma Hayek, George Clooney, and even a brief and rare appearance by Elijah Wood.
Still, I think Director Robert Rodriguez should have quit after the first two. Or maybe the first one, since the second one also seemed to be gradually lacking in substance. Then finally we get to the conclusion of the kid spy era, and it is an enjoyably cheesy adventure in 3D land where you get to wear these fun 3D plastic glasses the whole way through. Sounds like fun huh? Well, maybe for the unsuspecting five-year-old, too busy drooling over the noisy, bright special effects to understand that this movie doesn't have much of a point.
All of the Spy Kids movies are fun, noisy, and explosively hyped-up adventures, but let's face it: haven't there been enough "spy" movies to last us a lifetime? From the earliest classic James Bond movies to Austin Powers, to last year's I Spy, with Owen Wilson, to this year's very recent Johnny English, and many more.
Rodriguez may have produced Game Over, but he must have lost interest in the project somewhere. And that's too bad, seeing as how the previous two films: Spy Kids and Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams cashed in at a whopping $198 billion at the box office. But then again, money may be the root of all evil to most people, but money is also the root of all reasons why directors keep on producing infinite sequels. Even if they're overflowingly mediocre.
Just look at all the summer blockbuster sequels we've had on the list lately: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde, The Matrix Reloaded, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Terminator 3: The Rise of The Machines, Bad Boys II... The list goes on. And most of them were also entertaining at best, but desperately lacking in a solid plot. What is wrong with this picture? I guess it's all about the Benjamins, baby. But at least that movie was funny.
Well, I guess I will admit that this movie had a few laughs here and there, but nothing too exciting. I wasn't impressed with the fact that there weren't as many cool gadgets and gizmos in this movie as there were in the first two films. There were a couple good scenes that were amusing, including a fight in an exceptionally large virtual robot suit, and a dangerous racing sequence. And since most of the movie is in 3D, some objects do jump out at you, but nothing too extreme. I think they wanted to tone it down, to keep from scaring the younger ages into a fit of raging tears. That would be a shame, since these kid spy movies are just what the title proclaims: kid movies starring kids about kids being able to do whatever they set their minds to.
But I wouldn't go too far with that. Next thing we know, we might just be at the mercy of robotic kids controlling the wads of greenbacks in our wallets by screaming, "Go to the theater and spend all your money watching Spy Kids 3D: Game Over!" Be very afraid.
Stephanie Anderson is a reporter for the Web Devil. Reach her at stephanie.j.anderson@asu.edu.
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
