The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl Blu-ray Movie Review

The family that films together. . .um, films together.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 6, 2011

You have to hand it to Robert Rodriguez: most parents when confronted by their kids’ outrageous imaginations and storytelling would most likely listen distractedly for a moment, mutter, “That’s nice,” and then return to whatever all-consuming adult matters needed their attention. Rodriguez instead decided to make a movie, and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (originally presented in 3-D) plays very much like the fever dream of some mildly hyperactive seven year old, as perhaps it was. Thought up in large by Rodriguez’s son Racer and fashioned into a screenplay by Robert and his brother Marcel, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl is everything you might think of as having sprung from the mind of a seven year old: it’s inventive, wild, colorful, slightly surreal, and it doesn’t make one whit of sense or have much dramatic flow or story arc. Rodriguez has continually proven himself to be one of the most incredibly visual directors out there, and he perhaps surprised a lot of people with how elegantly he melded that visual flair to family friendly fare in the Spy Kids trilogy. He rather valiantly attempts to recreate the same magic in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, but as fanciful as the film is—and it is extremely fanciful at times—it’s so haphazard and goofy that it’s almost like the film equivalent of that viral YouTube video of David, the little boy returning home from the dentist and still high on anesthesia, who asks wide- eyed, “Is this real life?” Some viewers may be asking, “Is this a real movie?”, as The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl seems more at times to be a Rodriguez family in-joke where the rest of us are on the outside, wondering exactly what’s going on while scratching our heads in slight consternation and dismay. David, the drug addled child, is a rather prescient film critic himself when he slurs, “I feel funny” and “Is this going to be forever?” The good news is the funny feeling and thoughts of when “The End” will finally zoom into view ultimately do pass, and at least in this new Blu-ray, the presentation is squarely 2D, meaning that Rodriguez’s colorful production aesthetic can be seen in all its glory, and those headache inducing analglyph 3D glasses won’t be causing anyone to see (to quote young David again) “four eyes.”

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl actually manages some neat sleight of hand in its opening moments as we meet the two titular characters, Sharkboy (played as an adolescent by future heartthrob Taylor Lautner, though as a child by two of Rodriguez’s kids, Rebel and Racer) and Lavagirl (Taylor Dooley). As we’re quickly led through something akin to origin stories (more for Sharkboy than for Lavagirl), we then come to find out that what we’re seeing is actually a kind of “What I did for summer vacation” yarn being spun in class by young Max (Cayden Boyd), a sweet, tousle-headed kid who is obviously pretty far down the elementary school food chain. Max’s flight of whimsy, which he insists actually happened, is quickly shot down not just by a slew of his fellow classmates but even more distressingly by his teacher, Mr. Electricidad (George Lopez), who tells him to stop dreaming and wake up to real life. That sentiment is also echoed by Max’s mother (Kristin Davis), who seems to be upset that Max is evidently following in the footsteps of his head in the clouds father (David Arquette). Max is the object of school bully Linus (Jacob Davich), who steals Max’s dream journal where he keeps writing down the exploits of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Everything seems hopeless until a Wizard of Oz-esque tornado blows into town. It doesn’t whisk Max away, a la Dorothy exiting Kansas, but it seems to deposit Sharkboy and Lavagirl directly inside Max’s classroom, much to the astonishment of Mr. Electricidad, Linus and the rest of the kids (not to mention Max himself). Sharkboy and Lavagirl entreat Max to join them back in their magical land of Planet Drool, which is undergoing a hideous metamorphosis, perhaps tied to the fact that Linus has scribbled over all of the dreamy details that Max has jotted down in his dream journal.

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl takes a page (or perhaps several) from The Wizard of Oz, recasting several “real life” elements and characters from Max’s everday existence in magical and often fantastic new iterations in their Planet Drool version. Mr. Electricidad becomes a bizarre evil wizard known as Mr. Electric, who looks like a cross between a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot and a mutant lightbulb. Linus transmogrifies to Minus, a villain who's giving even Mr. Electric a run for his kilowatt hours. Even Max’s defunct toy robot, Tobor, from his real life, makes a new appearance in Drool (and is again voiced by Lopez). In fact it’s in the visual ingenuity that The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl really excels, and its almost nonstop flights of whimsy may distract younger viewers especially to the point where they won’t notice, or more likely won’t care, that the story never adds up to much and is simply a very flimsy hanger on which some considerably inventive special effects are draped.

While The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl is certainly fun and noisy, it's also undeniably messy and ill- formed most of the time. However, what probably sunk it more than anything in its theatrical exhibition was the decision to project it in anaglyph 3D. I’m one of those people who gets horrible headaches with the older style blue and cyan 3D glasses (I am so appreciative of Real 3D in that regard), but I’m also one of those people who usually can’t stand the faded, monochromatic look of films once those cardboard glasses are donned. For a film this bright and colorful, the decision to immediately negate one of its prime calling cards seems dunderheaded at best and fatal at worst. I can only imagine how drab this film must have looked with the filter of the 3D glasses in between the imagery and the eye, no matter how inventive the actual 3D imagery might have been divorced from the color palette.

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl was met with some pretty lethal reviews when it was released theatrically, but looking at it now with a bit of hindsight and perspective, it's yet another fantastically inventive piece by Rodriguez, though one that certainly could have used more discipline, shaping and grounding. The film will no doubt appeal to young children who will find the wondrous worlds of Racer Rodriguez's imagination perfectly in tune with their own flights of fancy. For older kids and adults, the film still delivers an amazing visual and aural punch, and even if it's lacking in some finer graces, it most definitely won't go forever.

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Whatever problems there may have been in the film's original 3D theatrical exhibition have been largely ameliorated by this flat 2D rendering, as the film pops with often magnificent color, in a crazy quilt of everything from pastels to bright primaries, and all robustly saturated and popping very nicely. The overall image is very nicely detailed, though Rodriguez is obviously working within the confines of green screen and a relatively smaller budget, so some of the CGI is purposefully fanciful rather than photorealistic. While the blending of elements is usually done quite seamlessly, the Blu- ray does occasionally show the literal seams of blending live action with green screen interpolated backgrounds. Close-ups reveal a wealth of fine detail, and overall the presentation here, while soft at times due to the ubiquitous CGI, is certainly heads and shoulders better than it evidently was theatrically, where many people complained about the diffuse color due to the anaglyph 3D glasses.

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl boasts a very aggressive lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that is extremely immersive a lot of the time and also has abundant LFE that should please ardent audiophiles who like those floorboards to rattle. From the first moments of the film, we're literally awash in surround activity, with lots of water sounds as the origin story of Sharkboy is detailed. Throughout the film, though, a variety of quite inventive sound effects populates the surrounds with excellent consistency. The storm sequence which delivers Sharkboy and Lavagirl to Max's classroom is a riot of low end rumbling and some great panning wind effects. Later when the kids are on a kind of roller coaster on Planet Drool, we once again get some very well detailed directionality as they zoom around the frame. The film has an abundance of inventive sound effects to match its visual whimsy, and those are all presented with a lot of impact on this DTS track. Nonetheless, dialogue is clear and consistently placed forward in the mix, even in the busiest moments.

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Robert Rodriguez. As usual, Rodriguez contributes an entertaining, engaging commentary, and though it isn't listed here, he's joined by son Racer Max, who came up with the original story of The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. This plays out more like a little father and son chat than a traditional commentary, but it's fun and provides some background on the film.
• Creating Sharkboy and Lavagirl with Racer Max (SD; 7:53). There are some great home videos here as Robert talks about working with his son to create this film.
• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:13)

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was expecting the worst with The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl due to the many hideous reviews I had read when the film had had its theatrical exhibition, so maybe the secret with this film is lowering one's expectations. The film is certainly nowhere near as focused and consistent as Rodriguez's Spy Kids films, which managed to blend his unique sensibilities within a family friendly framework, but that said this is hardly as bad as some critics made it out to be. Younger kids will probably be entranced by the weird and wacky goings-on on Planet Drool, and the film's message, while none too subtle, is a salient one for kids who must manage to find a way to make their dreams a reality. This Blu-ray looks and sounds great, so for families with young kids especially, it comes Recommended.