{"id":10502,"date":"2003-07-21T18:03:40","date_gmt":"2003-07-21T22:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/?p=10502"},"modified":"2018-11-19T18:05:04","modified_gmt":"2018-11-19T22:05:04","slug":"film-review-spy-kids-3-d-game-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/2003\/07\/21\/film-review-spy-kids-3-d-game-over\/","title":{"rendered":"Film Review: ‘Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Film Review: ‘Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over’
\nMon Jul 21,12:33 AM ET <\/b><\/span><\/div>\n

By Sheri Linden<\/b><\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) <\/b>– The quaint subgenre of 3-D cinema gets a dazzling dust-off with the third installment of Robert Rodriguez<\/b>‘s terrific “Spy Kids”<\/b> films, a bracing plunge into virtual reality that will introduce a new generation to the wonders of those magically goofy red-and-blue anaglyph glasses.<\/p>\n

As with its two predecessors, “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over”<\/b> bears a wealth of imaginative riches and a signature mix of outre personalities and gadgets.<\/p>\n

Still, fans of the first two films might find the human element somewhat lacking; though the gang’s all back, most of the adult actors are onscreen only for cameos, including the toplined Antonio Banderas <\/b>and Carla Gugino<\/b>.<\/p>\n

The film really belongs to 11-year-old Daryl Sabara<\/b> as Juni<\/b>, the youngest of the daring Cortez<\/b> family, and mainly to the CG effects. That makes sense given that Rodriguez<\/b>, who handles a multitude of technical and creative chores on his movies, conceived of the film less as a sequel than as a journey into three-dimensional filmmaking.<\/p>\n

The first major U.S. <\/b>theatrical release to use 3-D since 1991’s “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare,” “Game Over”<\/b> utilizes the lightweight, high-resolution cameras James Cameron<\/b> and Pace Technologies <\/b>developed to shoot his documentary “Ghosts of the Abyss.”<\/b><\/p>\n

Like the first two “Spy Kids” <\/b>adventures, this one will appeal to children and adults alike and should, after strong play at the boxoffice that likely will top the second film’s take, have a long 2-D life on video.<\/p>\n

Joining the regulars this time around are Sylvester Stallone<\/b>, Salma Hayek<\/b>, George Clooney<\/b>, Elijah Wood <\/b>and a quartet of talented youngsters, with the entire cast’s spirited work especially impressive considering that everybody acted in front of a green screen.<\/p>\n

Explaining the 3-D experience to initiates in the audience is Alan Cumming<\/b>, reprising his role as kids show personality\/inventor Floop<\/b>, in an opening sequence that makes wonderful use of layered effects via a pop-up book.<\/p>\n

The main action finds Juni<\/b> working as a PI — complete with droll, noirish voice-over — having left behind his work as a secret agent. But soon enough the OSS<\/b> summons him back for a mission of supreme importance: retrieving his older sister, hacker par excellence Carmen<\/b> (Alexa Vega<\/b>), who is trapped in the ultimate video game, “Game Over.”<\/b><\/p>\n

The agency had sent Carmen<\/b> to destroy the game, which is a vehicle for its creator, the Toymaker<\/b> (Stallone<\/b>), to take over the minds of kids everywhere.<\/p>\n

Stallone<\/b> has fun with the role of the evil genius, who debates his plan for world domination with three disparate aspects of himself — one of whom has a blatantly false bald pate, a comical touch in light of the film’s super-slick visuals.<\/p>\n

To join him on the expedition, Juni<\/b> chooses his paraplegic grandpa (Ricardo Montalban<\/b>) for his upper-body strength and mental agility — a nice lesson in open-mindedness that is reinforced later in the film without being heavy-handed or cloying.<\/p>\n

Back at agency HQ<\/b>, the Giggles<\/b> (Mike Judge<\/b> and a pigtailed Hayek<\/b>) monitor the duo’s progress through the game’s five levels, while four beta testers (Ryan James Pinkston, Robert Vito, Bobby Edner<\/b> and Courtney Jines<\/b>) guide them through the futuristic cityscapes and abstract tableaux.<\/p>\n

Among the challenges our heroes encounter are pogo-ing toads, monstrous iron men and various floating and flying objects that will have youngsters reaching up to grab them. Two especially effective set pieces are a breathtaking road race and a lava-surfing episode.<\/p>\n

It isn’t until an hour into the film that Juni<\/b> reaches Carmen<\/b>, and just when the rest of the gang’s all here, whetting the appetite for ensemble high jinks, it’s game over.<\/p>\n

There’s a refreshing message about revenge, relating to Grandfather’s history with the Toymaker<\/b>, and a nicely nontraditional salute to the importance of family — but the latter begs the question: Where was everyone in this extended family for the last hour and a half?<\/p>\n

Although the film’s concision stands as sharp rebuke to some of this summer’s more unwieldy actioners, it’s a letdown that most of the wacky, colorful characters don’t get to do much.<\/p>\n

In tribute to two of the most appealing kid actors around, there are post-credits snippets of Vega<\/b> and Sabara<\/b>‘s screen tests for the first “Spy Kids,”<\/b> way back in the 20th century.<\/p>\n

Miramax\/Dimension Films<\/b>, produced by Troublemaker Studios<\/b><\/p>\n

CAST<\/p>\n

Gregorio Cortez: Antonio Banderas<\/b>; Ingrid Cortez: Carla Gugino<\/b>; Carmen Cortez: Alexa Vega<\/b>; Juni Cortez: Daryl Sabara<\/b>; Grandfather: Ricardo Montalban<\/b>; Toymaker: Sylvester Stallone<\/b>; Donnagon Giggles: Mike Judge<\/b>; Cesca Giggles: Salma Hayek<\/b>; Gary Giggles: Matt O’Leary<\/b>; Gerti Giggles: Emily Osment<\/b>; Arnold: Ryan James Pinkston<\/b>; Rez: Robert Vito<\/b>; Francis: Bobby Edner<\/b>; Demetra: Courtney Jines<\/b>.<\/p>\n

CREDITS<\/p>\n

Director\/screenwriter\/editor\/director of photography\/production designer: Robert Rodriguez<\/b>; Producers: Elizabeth Avellan, Robert Rodriguez<\/b>; Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein<\/b>; Music: Robert Rodriguez<\/b>; Costume designer: Nina Proctor<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Reuters\/Hollywood Reporter <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Film Review: ‘Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over’ Mon Jul 21,12:33 AM ET By Sheri Linden LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – The quaint subgenre of 3-D cinema gets a dazzling dust-off with the third installment of Robert Rodriguez‘s terrific “Spy Kids” films, a bracing plunge into virtual reality that will introduce a new generation to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-78","category-spy-kids-3d"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3r2Pe-2Jo","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10503,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10502\/revisions\/10503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}