by MARK SLUTSKY

Robert Rodriguez has undoubtedly been the best thing to happen to kids' movies in the last decade. Minus the violence, the enthusiastic and endearingly flashy style of the director of From Dusk Till Dawn fits perfectly with the kids' movie genre. The guy really seems to throw himself into his work, too - Spy Kids 3D: Game Over opens this week, barely a year after the last.

As the title implies, Rodriguez has a big new trick up his sleeve: a full three-quarters of the movie is in 3D - yes, old-fashioned 3D with the red-and-blue glasses. Actually, it's not quite old-fashioned, as the movie was shot on hi-def video, but the effect is the same. Namely, it's fun as heck to watch. The plot of the movie concerns a sinister, immersive video game that our heroes must enter, and whenever they're in there the movie switches to its glasses-enhanced mode.

As with the first two movies, Spy Kids 3D concerns itself mainly with the exploits of the Cortez family, a clan of super-spies. Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega play Juni and Carmen, the two kids, with Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino as their parents. As the movie starts, Sabara is recruited by OSS, the spy agency, to enter Game Over, a hot new video game designed by the villainous Toymaker (played by Sylvester Stallone, of all people), and rescue his trapped sister.

Sabara must play his way through the game's various levels to find sis, each resembling a different kind of video game - racing, arena fighting, platform-hopping and the like. While this is fine and good, Vega sort of gets short shrift in the movie with her character not really joining the fun until the last half-hour. Still, it is fun, with a Tron-style psychedelic quality to the game's different levels. And, as with the other Spy Kids movies, there are plenty of amusing cameos, and of course Stallone (who in theory should be amazing, though his hamming gets a little grating). Still, Finding Nemo aside, you'd be hard-pressed to find a kids' movie this creative and good-natured at theatres this summer.

Spy Kids 3D: Game Over opens Friday, July 25

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