Spy Kids 3: Game Over 2003 Full Movie Review: The spy kids movies are a fine example of films that didn't age well but at the very least you could enjoy the first two for their low budget charm and for many a nostalgia factor. But spy kids 3D is nothing more than visual aids for the eye with visual effects worse than even the video games of the time. movies with low budget effects aren't always bad with Godzilla vs destroyah being a prime example but the film lacks substance.
When your film is a style over substance film with no style your in serious trouble. I will say however the film is watchable if your young having nothing in the means of being vulgar or offensive so maybe kids can get into it but in my opinion this film is awful.
I suppose I'm not really the audience for this since I don't really like Robert Rodriguez very much and among films of his I didn't like, "Spy Kids" is joined by "Planet Terror" and "Machete" as films of his I actively hate. All that said ... this might be one of the laziest films I've ever seen. The film is set inside a video game. It doesn't look like a video game. Even by early 2000's standards, the computer animation looks cheap and shoddy. The main villain in the film is played by Stallone ... a notably limited actor. So, of course, he is asked to play 4 different characters ... or 1 character and 3 alternate personalities of that character ... I don't know, he's terrible and I stopped paying attention.
It's really a wonder how Rodriguez managed to persuade Clooney, Stallone, Buscemi, Hayek, Paxton, and Elijah Wood to appear in this. Perhaps these people think that they need to become known to the next generation to further their careers. If the film was good, I could sort of understanding it, this is, however, the worst of the series so far. It's all set in a computer game (not very original) and the whole film just looks fake. I couldn't stop imagining the scenes being done on against a green screen background.
The best of the series, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over is an entertaining adventure into cyberspace. When Carmen Cortez gets trapped in a virtual reality game by a nefarious villain known as the Toymaker, her brother Juni goes into the game in an attempt to rescue her and shut it down. Surprisingly, Daryl Sabara (who's been one of the weaker actors of the series) really steps up and does a fairly decent job at carrying the film. And, Sylvester Stallone is especially good, playing multiple characters, and pulling off the comedy remarkably well. The special effects, however, are really cheesy, but kind of work given that the game takes place in a virtual environment. Still, a lot of the 3D comes off as hokey. But despite its problems, Sky Kids 3-D: Game Over is a fun romp that delivers plenty of laughs.
While it actually is better than the second film, this film is still underwhelming. First of all, the sets look either like something out of a lucid dream or a rejected final fantasy set.
Second of all, it's mindblowing to see how many celebrities were in this film(George Clooney, Elijah wood, and Sylvester Stallone), and last but not least, for all its effort put into the effects, it never feels real. Even for a kids movie, it feels kind of like stale bread.
If Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over is, in fact, the end of the Spy Kids movies, it's just about the most anti-climactic end to a series ever. Where the first two films were fun and enjoyable, Spy Kids 3-D is overbearing and obnoxious. The film makes the fatal mistake of utilizing 3-D technology that just doesn't work (it's those old red-and-blue glasses that should've been made obsolete in the '50s) and effectively infuriates those in the audience over the age of twelve.
In a prologue that's mercifully not in 3-D, we learn that Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara) has abandoned the Spy Kid lifestyle in favor of detective work (he couldn't handle the pressure that comes with being a spy, apparently). But when his sister Carmen (Alexa Vega) is kidnapped and held hostage inside a cheesy video game, Juni has to pick up where he left off and venture inside the game to save her.
That simplistic storyline is a big part of why Spy Kids 3-D fails as horribly as it does. The teamwork aspect of the first two films, between Carmen and Juni, is almost completely absent here. And that was a big part of what made those films as entertaining as they were: the idea that this squabbling pair of siblings had to work together to solve a variety of complex and clever puzzles. Here, the majority of the film is akin to watching someone else play a video game, as Juni gets into car chases, fights robots, etc. With hardly a whiff of a plot to keep things moving, this becomes incredibly tedious almost immediately. While the special effects are admittedly quite impressive, they'd be more at home in an arcade.
And then, of course, there's the 3-D aspect of the movie. Every single moment of the film that takes place inside the game (which adds up to at least an hour of screen time), is presented using "the very latest digital technology" (or so says the press notes) of 3-D effects. But really, this is about as effective as those old William Castle movies of the '50s - and just as annoying. Seeing through these flimsy glasses proves to be the first major test, as the blue portion of the glasses seems to have been tinted a little too darkly. Even if you're able to see properly, you'll immediately notice that supposed 3-D objects barely appear to leave the screen. And it's not like the technology to create effective 3-D images doesn't exist; James Cameron's Ghosts of the Abyss did a superb job of immersing the audience in a realistic-seeming 3-D world. Fortunately, Rodriguez seems to have predicted that most people wouldn't be able to sit through an entire movie wearing the glasses, and the movie is watchable without them. Background images have primarily been "enhanced," meaning it's actually preferable to view the flick without the aid of the glasses.
Spy Kids 3-D will presumably fare a lot better on home video, where the 3-D effects will be removed from the film. But even if that's the case, you'll still have to sit through a terminally dull storyline that makes Tron look like Citizen Kane.
Juni Cortez has decided to step down from the family business of being a spy to try and live a normal life; however, when he discovers his sister has been kidnapped by a new arch nemesis, the Toy Maker, he springs into gear and gets on the case. He will need to infiltrate a virtual reality video game, find his sister on level four, and help her escape the game by beating it.
Robert Rodriguez, director of Desperado, Machete, Spy Kids 1-4, Planet Terror, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Machete Kills, Sin City 1 & 2, and The Faculty, delivers Spy Kids 3. All of the special effects and action scenes are way overdone and rely too much on CGI and green screen. The acting was average and the cast includes Antonio Banderas, Steve Buscemi, Danny Trejo, Mike Judge, Cheech Marin, and Carla Gugino.
We have been watching these movies as a family; and unfortunately, the first one has been the only one worth watching. This was absolutely terrible. My daughter was in and out of interest, though she did like some action sequences and thought some scenes were funny; but as a whole, this was awful.
Rodriguez's $39 million experiment with 3-D is so bad, it's funny. I was a fan of Reboot, keeping it all CG would have been better. The use of green-screen here reminds me of Cool World. Stallone and Montalban are worth seeing. It's basically a 74-minute cash-in packed with references to the series. Nice foreshadowing of Wood's role in Tron: Uprising. People disappear from the ridiculous final shot.
I suppose I'm not really the audience for this since I don't really like Robert Rodriguez very much and among films of his I didn't like, "Spy Kids" is joined by "Planet Terror" and "Machete" as films of his I actively hate. All that said ... this might be one of the laziest films I've ever seen. The film is set inside a video game. It doesn't look like a video game. Even by early 2000's standards, the computer animation looks cheap and shoddy. The main villain in the film is played by Stallone ... a notably limited actor. So, of course, he is asked to play 4 different characters ... or 1 character and 3 alternate personalities of that character ... I don't know, he's terrible and I stopped paying attention.
It's really a wonder how Rodriguez managed to persuade Clooney, Stallone, Buscemi, Hayek, Paxton, and Elijah Wood to appear in this. Perhaps these people think that they need to become known to the next generation to further their careers. If the film was good, I could sort of understanding it, this is, however, the worst of the series so far. It's all set in a computer game (not very original) and the whole film just looks fake. I couldn't stop imagining the scenes being done on against a green screen background.
The best of the series, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over is an entertaining adventure into cyberspace. When Carmen Cortez gets trapped in a virtual reality game by a nefarious villain known as the Toymaker, her brother Juni goes into the game in an attempt to rescue her and shut it down. Surprisingly, Daryl Sabara (who's been one of the weaker actors of the series) really steps up and does a fairly decent job at carrying the film. And, Sylvester Stallone is especially good, playing multiple characters, and pulling off the comedy remarkably well. The special effects, however, are really cheesy, but kind of work given that the game takes place in a virtual environment. Still, a lot of the 3D comes off as hokey. But despite its problems, Sky Kids 3-D: Game Over is a fun romp that delivers plenty of laughs.
While it actually is better than the second film, this film is still underwhelming. First of all, the sets look either like something out of a lucid dream or a rejected final fantasy set.
Second of all, it's mindblowing to see how many celebrities were in this film(George Clooney, Elijah wood, and Sylvester Stallone), and last but not least, for all its effort put into the effects, it never feels real. Even for a kids movie, it feels kind of like stale bread.
If Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over is, in fact, the end of the Spy Kids movies, it's just about the most anti-climactic end to a series ever. Where the first two films were fun and enjoyable, Spy Kids 3-D is overbearing and obnoxious. The film makes the fatal mistake of utilizing 3-D technology that just doesn't work (it's those old red-and-blue glasses that should've been made obsolete in the '50s) and effectively infuriates those in the audience over the age of twelve.
In a prologue that's mercifully not in 3-D, we learn that Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara) has abandoned the Spy Kid lifestyle in favor of detective work (he couldn't handle the pressure that comes with being a spy, apparently). But when his sister Carmen (Alexa Vega) is kidnapped and held hostage inside a cheesy video game, Juni has to pick up where he left off and venture inside the game to save her.
That simplistic storyline is a big part of why Spy Kids 3-D fails as horribly as it does. The teamwork aspect of the first two films, between Carmen and Juni, is almost completely absent here. And that was a big part of what made those films as entertaining as they were: the idea that this squabbling pair of siblings had to work together to solve a variety of complex and clever puzzles. Here, the majority of the film is akin to watching someone else play a video game, as Juni gets into car chases, fights robots, etc. With hardly a whiff of a plot to keep things moving, this becomes incredibly tedious almost immediately. While the special effects are admittedly quite impressive, they'd be more at home in an arcade.
And then, of course, there's the 3-D aspect of the movie. Every single moment of the film that takes place inside the game (which adds up to at least an hour of screen time), is presented using "the very latest digital technology" (or so says the press notes) of 3-D effects. But really, this is about as effective as those old William Castle movies of the '50s - and just as annoying. Seeing through these flimsy glasses proves to be the first major test, as the blue portion of the glasses seems to have been tinted a little too darkly. Even if you're able to see properly, you'll immediately notice that supposed 3-D objects barely appear to leave the screen. And it's not like the technology to create effective 3-D images doesn't exist; James Cameron's Ghosts of the Abyss did a superb job of immersing the audience in a realistic-seeming 3-D world. Fortunately, Rodriguez seems to have predicted that most people wouldn't be able to sit through an entire movie wearing the glasses, and the movie is watchable without them. Background images have primarily been "enhanced," meaning it's actually preferable to view the flick without the aid of the glasses.
Spy Kids 3-D will presumably fare a lot better on home video, where the 3-D effects will be removed from the film. But even if that's the case, you'll still have to sit through a terminally dull storyline that makes Tron look like Citizen Kane.
Juni Cortez has decided to step down from the family business of being a spy to try and live a normal life; however, when he discovers his sister has been kidnapped by a new arch nemesis, the Toy Maker, he springs into gear and gets on the case. He will need to infiltrate a virtual reality video game, find his sister on level four, and help her escape the game by beating it.
Robert Rodriguez, director of Desperado, Machete, Spy Kids 1-4, Planet Terror, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Machete Kills, Sin City 1 & 2, and The Faculty, delivers Spy Kids 3. All of the special effects and action scenes are way overdone and rely too much on CGI and green screen. The acting was average and the cast includes Antonio Banderas, Steve Buscemi, Danny Trejo, Mike Judge, Cheech Marin, and Carla Gugino.
We have been watching these movies as a family; and unfortunately, the first one has been the only one worth watching. This was absolutely terrible. My daughter was in and out of interest, though she did like some action sequences and thought some scenes were funny; but as a whole, this was awful.
Rodriguez's $39 million experiment with 3-D is so bad, it's funny. I was a fan of Reboot, keeping it all CG would have been better. The use of green-screen here reminds me of Cool World. Stallone and Montalban are worth seeing. It's basically a 74-minute cash-in packed with references to the series. Nice foreshadowing of Wood's role in Tron: Uprising. People disappear from the ridiculous final shot.
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