The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3D - Review

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Rated: PG

Distributor: Dimension Films

Release Date: 2005-06-10

Starring: Cayden Boyd, Taylor Lautner, Taylor Dooley, George Lopez, David Arquette, Kristin Davis.

Directed by Robert Rodriguez

Produced by Elizabeth Avellen

Written by Robert Rodriquez

Reviewed by Matt Norris : 2005-06-11 13:07:29

Being a parent has many advantages. For starters, I like to call my kids “minions.” C’mon, that’s flat out cool. Who doesn’t want minions? Second, if you raise em right, there’s a good chance one of them will get rich or marry well and then you won’t have to be in a nursing home when your 80. However, there is a dark side to raising miniature versions of you. On occasion, the little tyke’s view of entertainment and yours will violently clash. For every quality Pixar flick they want to see, they also clamor for bottom feeders like Garfield or The Piglet Movie. It’s like a roulette wheel of pain for this parent/critic. Do I really need to tell you in which category I need to file The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl? With horrible 3D rendering, bad acting, and a storyline that seems awfully familiar to another children’s classic, Shark Boy and Lava Girl continues Robert Rodriguez’s schizophrenic ride as a Hollywood director.

I’m surprised that in 2005, I would have a major complaint on the visual flair of a major release. Shark Boy’s gimmicky 3D is without question the worst visual rendering I have ever seen in theaters. For starters, nothing “leapt” from the screen. Second, the whole damned movie was red tinted. What’s the point in Lava Girl having vibrant pink hair when the glasses make it look reddish-brown? None of the vibrant colors survived. I found myself begging for the 2D scenes where I could actually disseminate colors. If Rodriquez would have dropped the antiquated 3D gimmick, the movie’s other flaws possibly could be overlooked. Okay, maybe that’s stretching it.

The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl comes from the mind of Rodriguez’s son. Well, the characters come from his kid (I’ll get back to where I think the story came from). The story focuses on Max (Boyd) who lives in his dream world where he created the characters of Shark Boy and Lava Girl. Max’s fantasy world, entitled Planet Drool, is his escape from the depressing real world where his parents fight, bullies torment him, and a teacher urges him to give up on his dreams. One day Shark Boy (Lautner) and Lava Girl (Dooley) show Max they might be more than a dream when they whisk him away to Planet Drool so that he can help save the dream world from the approaching nightmares created by Mr. Electric (Lopez) and Minus (Davich). Hey Rodriguez! I liked it the first time it was called The Neverending Story. I’m not going to say this is a blatant rip off, but let’s compare similarities. Both movies try and get a young boy to save their fantasy world from doom. Both worlds are threatened by similar enemies (I’m trying not to spoil the better of the two movies). Heck, the robot in Shark Boy and Neverending’s Luckdragon even talk similarly.

Yet the two movies have differences. The acting in Shark Boy and Lava Girl is atrocious. When David Arquette gives one of the better performances you have to think something is amiss. I hate to criticize children’s acting but I have to here. Whether due to a horrible script or poor directing, Boyd ‘s performance as Max is uninspired and is a better fit for a school play than for the big screen. Lautner isn’t as bad but he’s nothing special either. Dooley on the other hand, has a spark of potential. She at least expresses emotion and delivers her lines with a bit of excitement. Of all of the kids, she’s the only one I expect to see working again. The adult acting, sadly, is only a shade better. Lopez is fine as Mr. Electricidad but I found him to be as bored by the surroundings as I was. On the other hand, Max’s mom, (Kristin Davis from Sex and the City) should be ashamed. This is truly the worst acting I’ve seen since Catwoman. She’s either a terrible actress whose inabilities were masked on HBO for years or she just doesn’t care anymore.

With many children’s movies you end up with a film that might lack something: acting, story, or presentation. The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl captures the Triple Crown. With an amateurish 3D gimmick, an unoriginal story and acting that would make Screech cringe, Shark Boy and Lava Girl are best left in the imagination when a director can’t rise to the levels of his own son’s creativity.

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Mike
October 15, 2008 at 22:59

This was a mesmerizing film, what's with all of you people not liking it??

Taylor Lautner is great in this film. He'll be a superstar in no time. He's already a world champion martial artist in "real life"! He can sing relatively well, he's a GREAT actor (wow!), and he can dance. Sharks can breakdance because in this movie, it is part of Max's dreamworld. So who's to say sharks cannot breakdance??? It's part of a DREAM world. (to the ding dong that questioned that)

Taylor Dooley is also entertaining and a good choice for the role of Lava Girl. She "smiles too much" and "Burns everything"? She smiles because it turns out, if you would have watched the movie to the end, that she is not about lava or heat, but about light and good, which seems to me to go hand in hand with smiling alot. At least historically, this is true. And um... she is Lava Girl.... that's LAVA girl. Last time I checked, Lava is hot . umm. that means there's an increased tendency to burn things... no? duh. dingy dong dumb dummy.

Finally, the comment about calling Cayden Boyd gay and associating that with bad is unacceptable. Do you know he is gay? If so, so what? Most people are no longer interested in such negative comments, so keep those to yourself, we don't care to hear them.

I ordered two copies of this movie from Disney today. For my neice and nephew.

Long live Shark Boy and Lava Girl!

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chocolatyrumby
June 3, 2009 at 08:41

Yes I TOTALLY AGREE! This movie has cleverly combined word play, comedy and fantasy into one single story, like a three-in-one sorta thing. :) Also, it's main characters are really well developed, and each has a unique personality. Thus each of them leaves a deep impression on the audience. I personally feel that the plot is really well developed, with a interesting twist in it. It is really touching, and has a moral in too! One interesting thing I noticed was that the creator cleverly chose two elements that are the exact opposite of each other, thus creating amusing conflicts between Shark Boy and Lava Girl, and also, near the end, showing the audience that friendship can definitely outshine any differences in nature (or whatever/however you call it/describe it :D). Thus, I feel that it's a great film, and I've to say that it's the BEST MOVIE I'VE EVER WATCHED. :D I'm serious.

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Joe
September 2, 2008 at 23:21

My boys 4 and 8 are watching it now. Seriously the worst drivel I have ever seen on screen. how do movies like this get made??

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mickt
August 13, 2008 at 17:44

the trailers were awful dumb sound makes me want to puke

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MHMH
July 14, 2008 at 22:03

animaton sucks everything sucks about this movie if i was max id fking kill all of those biotches

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Nathan
June 17, 2008 at 13:12

This was absolutely the worst movie i have ever seen. the story line lost my interest about 10 minutes into the movie the 3d rendering looked crap and everything was red. they were all bad actors and it was so stupid how they were just thinking up dreams or whatever it was to shoot at each other. This movie was so stupid i could feel myself getting dumber just watching it. This is the only movie i have ever walked out on and I am glad i did.

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eli
February 1, 2008 at 13:52

Sharkboy and Lavagirl is is the most briliant film I ever seen.I don't like Max but i really like SHARKBOY and LAVAGIRL and who tells that SHARKBOY and LAVAGIRL isn't good movie so hi/she is ill

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Max Boyd is A Girl
July 10, 2007 at 23:51

Max's acting is rubbish plus u can see it is al done by green screen & me & my brother put the video in slow motion & all his scenes sounds like a girl plus his face is totaly wrecked & he wouldnt notice a dream if it walked up to him said hi & slept with him + the performances from taylor lautner & dooley are rubbish especially when he is fighting mr electric in the " cookie world of junk " all he does is backflips & when he is singing to max he is breakdancing how does a shark know how to breakdance i will never know & dooleys performance is stupid she smiles too much burns everything she touches. The Only funny thing probably was the performance by george lopez.

P.S. I do not like Max Boyd he is gay If u have seen him in X-Men 3 He is scraping his wings off with a razor

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Rei
May 7, 2007 at 04:39

my little baby borther loves it and i love him! i think this is a brilliant movie for kids if my little brother could undertsand it i mean he's only 5!

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Shark boy hater
April 30, 2007 at 23:42

This is hands down, the worst pile of dribble ever to be on the screen. I get sick just watching it!

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Wendy
March 13, 2007 at 06:46

Sarah u are so wrong sharkboy and lavagirl is one of the best movies i have ever watched so LOSER!!!!

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Sarah
December 21, 2006 at 08:07

sharkboy and lavagirl is THE WORST movie ever created! Max for one is a complete retard who cant act not even if he tried and the storyline is to confusing not to metion completey strange id classify this a a dodgy movie that kids would not get. it shows bullying and outragous uncanny scenes but overall a tad creative....

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