Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002)

Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002)

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega

I usually don’t watch sequels without first having seen the original, but I also don’t usually watch crappy kids movies anyway. I blame Cartoon Network and my inability to turn off a movie once I start watching it. Mostly Cartoon Network.

Spy Kids 2 follows two kids (who are spies) as they travel to an island full of bad CGI effects and Steve Buscemi. They have to stop an evil spy (played by Mike Judge, strangely enough) from stealing a device that’ll apparently turn off all the power in the world. Why he wants this is never really explained, except that he’s evil.

I guess this is a decent enough movie for kids, but I’m not a kid, and I really can’t go around reviewing movies as if I was one. What interested me the most about this movie was the bizarre casting. I know kids movies are cattle calls for famous actors who want something that their kids can see them in, but seriously, Cheech Marin and Danny Trejo? Robert Rodriguez, for that matter. The hell, Rob? I didn’t even know you could make a movie without pornographic violence. It was all forgiven by the cameo of Ricardo Montalban as the grandpa in a wheelchair, though, because that guy is cool as hell.

You know, it isn’t impossible to make a kids movie that adults can enjoy, too. Take any Pixar movie, for instance. But whatever, you can’t expect much from something like this. I’m just confused as to how three of these dogs got made.