| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | SPY KIDS 2: THE ISLAND OF LOST DREAMS (2002) |
| Director | Robert Rodriguez |
| Writer | Robert Rodriguez |
| Lead Actor | Alexa Vega |
| Cast | Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Steve Buscemi |
| Genre | Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi |
| Release Date | August 7, 2002 (United States) |
| Duration | 1h 40m (100 min) |
| Budget | $38 million |
| Language | English |
| IMDb Rating | 5.3/10 |
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James Bond meets Inspector Gadget as juniors in Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams. High-tech gadgets and a nonstop pace kept the audience I watched the movie with highly entertained.
When we left Juni and Carmen Cortez at the end of last year’s Spy Kids movie, they had earned a place along with their super-spy parents Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) in the superspy agency, the OSS. Their assignment now is to save the world from an evil plotter whose pending “transmooker” device can give him total power by rendering all high-tech devices useless. (Note the implied commentary on our growing dependence on high-tech aids.) But the spy kids’ job is now complicated by a pair of unpleasant competing spy kids, Gary and Gerti Giggles (Matt O’Leary and Emily Osment) and their father Donagon (Mike Judge).
The movie is loaded with visual fun and wild imagination. The film opens with an extreme theme park that provides the requisite pre-teen body humor with its spinning ride called “The Vomit.” The snooty president’s daughter arrives at a special event surrounded by a wall of Secret Service agents stepping like a dance of wooden soldiers. The island of the movie’s title is populated by a host of weird hybrid creatures including a flying pig and, Juni’s favorite, a spider centaur.
But high-tech gadgets are at the heart of the movie and even offer the basis for a moral. Gary Giggles shows up with an armful of technology that trumps all the fresh gimmicks of Carmen and Juni, and sneers, “An agent is only as good as his gadgets.” Carmen and Juni’s technology developer reminds them, however, that the most important tool they have is their mind.
Like the original Spy Kids movie, the central value of this film is family solidarity, although here it seems a bit of an add-on to what is essentially a kid action movie. In this sequel not only the parents are involved, but also the grandparents. Dad and Mom are joined by Grandfather (Ricardo Montalban) and Grandmother (Holland Taylor). Some in-law jokes provide a little “tension” so that the film can end with a newfound moment of family solidarity and appreciation.
Moreover, loyalty to blood relations finds a foil in the Giggles family when Gary and Gerti finally must face a choice between backing their father or doing what is right.
Spy Kids 2 is another remarkable achievement by a young filmmaker, Robert Rodriguez.
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