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Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams

By Gene Seymour | Staff Writer

August 7, 2002

The sequel piles on the digital effects, fancy hardware and loopy scenery while throwing a handful of exotic creatures into the mix. It's still just as enchanting as its predecessor, even if it doesn't all make sense. This time, it's the kid super agents, Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara, who need to be rescued by parents Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino.

The success of last Easter's jack- in-the-box surprise, "Spy Kids," inspired its director, Robert Rodriguez, to go for broke in the sequel. Placing himself in the middle of just about every production aspect, including design, music and editing, Rodriguez has thrown anything he can into every frame of "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams." It's an old-fashioned Sunday- funnies serial painted with digital photography and tweaked with high tech. The imagery snaps and pops with such jumpy, carefree energy that the movie seems to be making itself up as it goes along.

What a difference a year makes! A year after Carmen Cortez (Alexa Vega) and her little brother, Juni (Daryl Sabara), saved their super-spy parents Gregorio (Antonio Banderas) and Ingrid (Carla Gugino) from being stomped by robot children, there's now a whole agency of "spy kids" dispatched to crises where grownups only get in the way. Carmen and Juni are, of course, the stars of this outfit. Their closest competition comes from a smug duo of blond siblings, Gary (Matt O'Leary) and Gerti (Emily Osment) Giggles, whose dad Donnagon (Mike Judge) beats out Gregorio for the government's top spy post.

The Cortez kids think something smells. And it all ties into the theft of something called the Transmooker device, which is first swiped by the president's daughter (Taylor Momsen) as a means of getting attention from her dad (Christopher McDonald). The Transmooker is recovered, only to be swiped again and taken to a mysterious island whose sole inhabitants are a jittery, agoraphobic geneticist (Steve Buscemi) and the mutant creatures he created. (Example: A spider monkey with the head and torso of an ape and the eight-legged ... you know.)

Carmen and Juni are soon in a wild, jostling race with Gary and Gerti for the Transmooker, trying to avoid being snatched by the malformed menagerie. Meanwhile, Gregorio and Ingrid race to the island to recover their offspring, accompanied - to Gregorio's chagrin - by Ingrid's mom (Holland Taylor) and dad (Ricardo Montalban - and how good it is to see him enjoying himself as much as he does here!). And they're, in turn, being stalked by Donnagon, who also wants his kids back, but also wants the device because ... well, because!

Some of this doesn't seem to make any sense. Then again, when has any spy spoof "made sense"? (Imagine Doctor Evil from the "Austin Powers" movies making those quotation marks.) To appreciate the charm of "Spy Kids 2" as opposed to its predecessor, it may be necessary to think of yourself as a dreamy 11-year-old with hundreds of crayons and pads of paper at your disposal, drawing picture after picture to tell the secret-agent story in your head. And if your heart is good and your attitude is playful, who cares if you don't always color within the lines?