The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D

In The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, director Robert Rodriguez inflicts upon the world the unmerciful product of an imagination run amok on the power--the mad, glorious power!--of cheap modern consumer electronics. Okay, it's terrific that Rodriguez is doing his own thing, but the movies he makes in his garage with his camcorder and his laptop (such as this one) make you wonder if just a little bit of interference from money boys and marketing girls is such a terrible evil after all. Rodriguez's seven-year-old son Racer--who came up with the story--has a nice sense of the ridiculously pulpy with his creations of Sharkboy ("the sharks raised him as their own and taught him the way of the shark") and Lavagirl (her hair is flaming pink!). And who else but a second-grader would conceive of a planet that looks like a TV commercial for a sugary breakfast cereal, to which Young Max (Cayden Boyd) travels for adventure with the titular characters. But an adult storyteller's expertise is absent--Rodriguez is content to throw blobby, fakey, candy-colored 3-D stuff at the audience, with the end result being that the film sounds and feels as if it were made by tykes who'd broken into dad's tool shed and borrowed his filmmaking toys. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Robert Rodriguez, the eight-minute production featurette “Creating Sharkboy and Lavagirl with Racer Max,” and trailers. Bottom line: a so-so extras package for a disappointing film.] (M. Johanson)[Blu-ray Review—Nov. 8, 2011—Lionsgate, 93 min., PG, $14.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2005's The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl sports a great transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are identical to the DVD release, including audio commentary by director Robert Rodriguez, the production featurette “Creating Sharkboy and Lavagirl with Racer Max” with Rodriguez's son (8 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid Blu-ray debut for a lesser Rodriguez film.]