No lazy
sequel

>> Spy Kids 2 is pure fun and fantasy

by JOANNE LATIMER

Ushers at the premiere of Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams handed out promotional tattoos. Cool. But it’s a good idea to wait until after screening a movie before applying the tie-ins to your body. Two hours later, I had a wet new tattoo on my tummy, to honour director Robert Rodriguez and his sensational sequel. What an excellent way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of El Mariachi, Rodriguez’s cult classic.

Yes, El Mariachi was 10 years ago and Rodriguez is now entrusted with enormous studio budgets to make futuristic kids’ movies, among other things. But, to use a movie cliché, every cent is on the screen. Rodriguez stuffs every scene with imagination, fun and action. This is no lazy sequel: with the return of the cast from the original Spy Kids, plus Holland Taylor and Ricardo Montalban as the grandparents, this winning script has punch, as well as amazing digital effects.
“An agent is only as good as his gear,” proclaims a slick Spy Kid. After a line like that, you know our Spy Kids will end up digitally defenceless, with only their wits as weapons in life-threatening set-ups. And they do, on a secret island run by genius geneticist Steve Buscemi.

Our Spy Kids are after a powerful device that can shield countries from satellite surveillance. The device, we learn, was ferried away to the secret island where hybrid animals and sea monsters run amok, and our favourite brother-sister duo must race to retrieve it before two rival Spy Kids beat them to it.

Rodriguez’s henchmen owe something to the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz, and the secret island is late-vintage Spielberg from Jurassic Park. The spy ships, personal helicopters, flying shoes and crazy laptops are a fun distraction, and the high-tech tree house is pure fantasy. Beautiful underwater shots in futuristic submarines are breathtaking, while the hybrid animals almost steal the show (check out the Slizards).

There are a few shots of product placement that drew loud groans from the audience, like our Spy Kids conjuring up a Big Mac and fries in their submarine. But the loudest groans were in reaction to Spy Girl Carmen Cortez’s (Alexa Vega) announcement about the “bad boy” hottie she fancies: “I think I can change him.”
The spy parents, Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino, are called into service again this time, to a lesser extent, but their comic relief is dead-on. They bicker more than in the first film, and the appearance of the grandparents brings more “normal” conflict. Apparently Banderas isn’t a good enough son-in-law, in their eyes, and the Spy Kids need rescuing from the older generation.

Within this film, Rodriguez manages to create a futuristic amusement park, an underwater world, an island of freaky animals, an Aztec burial temple, Spy Kids headquarters and an army of James Bond gizmos. Would we expect any less? The Island of Lost Dreams saves the reputation of sequels this year (along with Austin Power’s Goldmember), and makes me wonder what Rodriguez will be making in another 10 years. :

Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams is currently playing

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