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3-D movies grew out Hollywood's fear of television. Realizing that television might replace cinema as America's dominant entertainment form, Hollywood strove to find ways to distinguish itself from the small box in people's living rooms. Unfortunately, 3-D was too unwieldy in its early days to offer more than a stray special effect, and audiences grew, reasonably, to distrust the medium. Every decade or so has brought another movie supposedly offering improved 3-D technology; but even though the technology has been better, the movies usually haven't. When Robert Rodriguez announced that his third and last Spy Kids movie would be largely shot in 3-D, however, I had high hopes. The first two Spy Kids flicks were filled with clever gadgets and effects that actually advanced the story rather than slow it down. If anyone could make a contemporary 3-D feature that worked, it would be Rodriguez.

Spy Kids 3-D makes the wise decision to integrate the 3-D vision into its narrative. Most of the movie takes place inside a video game, a new 3-D video game designed by the Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone). Kids from around the nation are lining up to be the first to play. But the country's spy organization has learned that the Toymaker has invented the game as a plot to ensnare the minds of children. They've already sent in one of their top agents, Carmen (Alexa Vega), as a beta tester, but she's been captured and is being held prisoner inside the game. Now it's up to Carmen's younger brother Juni to save her and spoil the Toymaker's plot. He must infiltrate the game, find his sister, and then advance to the fifth level, where he
will learn how to defeat the game and foil the Toymaker.

The thing that hinders Spy Kids 3-D for me is that Juni is my least favorite character in the Spy Kids universe. He doesn't have the charisma of his on-screen sister Carmen or the acting chops that Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino bring to the roles of his parents. Daryl Sabara, as Juni, tends to have one consistent facial expression, that of slightly frightened wonder. Admittedly, he does find himself in a situation that's both frightening and wonderful, but still a little bit of the wide-eyes goes a long way. The same is true for his new compatriots. None of the child actors distinguish themselves, instead reminding us that most child stars get their start doing commercials.

The real star of the film are the 3-D effects. I haven't seen many 3-D movies, so I don't have much to compare. But I was impressed with the sheer inventiveness of Robert Rodriguez's vision. The effects do create the illusion of being inside a video game, and the 3-D magic is used for both humor and excitement. There are scenes when things start flying at the audience for no reason other than to show off. Usually, I'd be skeptical of moments like that, but here they have an exhilarating impact. And when Sylvester Stallone leans out into the audience (at least that's what it felt like), it was comical to be so close to Rambo.

Unfortunately, Rodriguez's brilliant use of color is largely absent. I'm not sure if it's an intentional choice or that the 3-D technology doesn't allow for vibrant hues, but most of the scenes inside the video game are reduced to blacks, grays, and muted pastels. This is especially unfortunate given how important color was to the first two Spy Kids movies. Nonetheless, Rodriguez's visual flair manifests itself in the various set designs (each level of the game features an entirely new setting) and the incarnations of the Toymaker.

Also largely absent are Banderas and Gugino. Spy Kids 3-D instead features Ricardo Montalban as the primary adult figure. This allows for some clever gags about Montalban's past work in commercials and the tv show Fantasy Island. A joke about Corinthian leather had the adults in the audience roaring, while the little ones wondered why we were laughing. But Montalban is not as engaging a screen presence as Banderas or Alan Cumming. So it's a wonderful surprise when not only Antonio and Gugino but Cumming, Steve Buscemi and indeed pretty much every character from the first two movies show up in the 3-D finale. It's a reminder that the Spy Kids movies have always been more about community and family than action or adventure.

And that's why I'll be sad to see the Spy Kids adventure come to an end. Rodriguez, who is a one-man filmmaker, clearly loves these characters and the community they inhabit. Though Spy Kids 3-D is clunky on occasion (I'm not sure what Stallone is doing in this film), it has a joy we rarely see in the movies. This is a group of actors and filmmakers having fun, and the audience joins right in. One last note: stick around for the credit sequence, or else you'll miss the best moment of the movie. 

J. Robert Parks 7/28/2003

Not since the virtual world of Tron has a movie setting been so dominantly set in a virtual world as is the case with Spy Kids 3-D. The film is the third in the popular series from Robert Rodriquez, and it continues the exploits of Spy Kids Juni (Daryl Sabara) and his sister Carmen (Alex Vega).

The film opens shortly after the events of the previous film and follows Juni in his new life after leaving the Spy Kids organization. Juni earns spending money doing work as a private eye and is saving to purchase a new video game that is set to go on sale that evening. Against his will, Juni is summoned back to the Spy Kids unit to save his sister, who has gone missing while testing a beta version of the game. It seems that the game is a dangerous device that traps kids in a virtual world, leaving their bodies as little more than drones as their conscience is trapped in the game. It seems that the evil Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone) has his own agenda, and Juni is tasked with saving his sister and asked to avoid interfering with the game or the Toymaker, who also lives in the virtual game community.

Once Juni enters the game world, the majority of the film is in 3-D and has some nice sequences such as a robot arena and a race sequence that gives nods to those in Tron and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. While visually interesting, many of the sequences in the virtual world will likely interest younger viewers only as the film is clearly designed for this audience. As such, the film is a difficult one to review. On one hand, I can note the very basic plot, bad acting, lack of character development, and an overabundance of effects. I would also note that like the previous two films in the series, each chapter has upped the effects portion at the cost of the severe paring down of the story when compared to the previous version.

Younger viewers are not likely to care about the weak plot and will be taken in by the 3-D eye candy, even though series regulars Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino are in the film only briefly. The film does have many cameos from the previous two films, and Stallone gives a fun performance as the Toymaker, showing that he is more than capable of doing quality work in light comedy roles.

The movie is mostly a 90-minute video game and should delight younger viewers despite being very slight when compared to the other films in the series. Older viewers are likely to find numerous faults with the film to the point that it will likely detract them from enjoying the film.

Gareth Von Kallenbach  7/28/2003