I'd got my 5 year old nephew all to myself for the weekend, which to me is the epitome of the double-edged sword. He's a wonderful, bright, loving, lively kid, but god, is he demanding. There's no shoving him in front of the PC, Playstation or DVD player and doing your own thing, even for 5 minutes. He likes be out and about, he likes to do things, he likes to have experiences. The only way to get him to sit down and shut up is to sit him in front of an ENORMOUS screen while all manner of monsters, kids and cartoon creatures entertain him.
There were two films on at the cinema this week that I could take him to, and one (Scooby Doo) I'd already utilised the last time he was thrust into my care. So Spy Kids 2 it was, with neither of us having seen Spy Kids 1 or having the faintest idea what it was about.
It turns out to be primarily about 2 siblings, Carmen and Juni, who work for the US Secret
Service as spies, aided and abetted by an array of weird and wonderful gadgets that put fire in their heels, wings on their backs and enable them to scale walls, deprogramme computers and anything else they need in the course of their very exciting lives.
They have 2 arch enemies, another set of sibling Spy Kids, and both are after the same Level One status and prime projects.
The prime project that is the crux of the film centres around a mysterious island where a scientist has created some incredible hybrid creatures that have run amok, grown huge, and turned nasty. Said mad scientist also has a 'cloaking' mechanism that can make things disappear from maps and be untraceable.
There are also some strange men with magnets for heads, who steal a vital weapon from the Secret Service which must be got back at all costs.
Because of a complicated double-guess, double-foil espionage-type trick, Carmen and Juni end up on the island searching for the weapon, when really they have been set up to find the cloaking device which the Director of Spy Kids wants to get hold of in order to rule the world.
All quite outrageous and totally above my nephew's comprehension (and below mine), but it didn't matter a jot.
What matters in this film is the special effects, and I have to say they are superb in a totally tacky, rubbishy way. The creatures are clearly miniatures blown up and computerized onto the screen, and at times I swear I could see wires.
But again this didn't matter. The hybrid creatures were wonderful concoctions which had my nephew squealing with delight. Ones that spring to mind are the slizard (snake-lizard cross), pig-bird, fish-horse and spider-monkey. There's also a total rip-off of Jason and the Argonauts where Carmen and Juni fight with a load of skeletons. This had my nephew in paroxysms of fear and laughter, so I guess it was good.
Onto the cast. I'm afraid I have no idea who played the kids, but they were fine (in that horrible precocious way American thespian kids are). We also had Antonio Banderas playing the father of Carmen and Juni, a cameo from the man from Fantasy Island as their grandfather (the island's owner, not his short friend), and Alan Cummings as Floop, a TV character. The only real stand-out performance was from the old Reservoir Dog, Steve Buscemi, as the mad scientist. He didn't actually do that much, but he looked so much like a mad scientist that he didn't have to and stole the show anyway.
I really didn't notice the music, which isn't a criticism of it, but just means that it must have fitted the movie well without overpowering or undermining it.
All in all this is a terrific family film in that it entertains, amuses, excites and stimulates the kids without boring them with anything of a faintly educational or instructional nature. It was made to rake in money and I'm sure it will do that as word spreads around the playground. My nephew is already asking when the video comes out and can he have a copy.
You won't remember it in six months' time any more than you'll remember the exact taste, look and smell of the popcorn you ate to accompany it, but you'll thoroughly enjoy yourself at the pictures for the time that you're there.
Two stars from me and four from Kane, so I'll give it three.
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Family - Director: Sarah Ball - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Neil Morrissey, Noddy Holder, Alison Steadman, Stephen Tompkinson, Chris Evans, Elton John, Bob The Builder
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![Spy Kids 2 - The Island Of Lost Dreams [DVD] [2002]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78542298.jpg "Spy Kids 2 - The Island Of Lost Dreams [DVD] [2002]")
Sep 23rd, 2002
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