Film Reviews

Spy Kids 3-D - Game Over

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Alexa Vega
• Details: US / 90 mins / (G).

A noisy, loud and vivid sequel, the second sequel to Spy Kids may be built around a tacky old visual device, but this is such a breathless, shrill piece of entertainment that it is difficult not to be caught up in it. This time around, Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara) has abandoned the top secret OSS agency which he, his older sister Carmen (Alexa Vega) and his parents Gregorio (Antonio Banderas) and Ingrid (Carla Gugino) worked for in the previous two movies. However, Juni is forced to go back into the employment of the agency after he discovers that his sibling has been trapped in a computer game, which is taking the world by storm. The inventor of the game, the mysterious Toymaker (Stallone in all his dead-eyed, scenery chomping glory) has had experience of Juni's family and now wishes to control the world's children through his video game empire.
While it wouldn't know subtlety if it slapped it the face several times, there's something brashly infectious about the antics of Spy Kids. Loud without being annoying, densely plotted (for a kids movie) without being overbearing or po-faced, it's a thrill park of a film, with the dubious-sounding 3-D far more effective than you may think. Borrow a kid and go see.

Review by Garreth Murphy