The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl

Robert Rodriguez

These days, you know what you're going to get from a RR movie: cool action scenes, not a whole heckuva lot of plot, but just a very good time. The man simply makes movies fun. This one, no exception, except that it has a little bit more plot than his other films. (I think that has to do with the fact that he didn't write the screenplay)

I won't receite the plot, however, because this story is more important in the lessons that it teaches, basically BE YOURSELF and DON'T BE AFRAID TO DREAM.

Yup, this movie is for all of us geeks who scribbled pictures of our own made-up superheroes on our notebooks in school (and yeah! I'm talking grade through high, buddies!) . . . especially if we got crap for it, too.

Anyway, it's about the boy being thrown into the world of his own creation, and now he has to save it, because there's a dark force threatening to destroy it. Which is, of course, the bully who stole the kid's dream journal and has begun to put his own dreams into the picture. In this way, the movie of course becomes allegorical. At first, I was under the impression that the "darkness" eating away at his dreamworld was simply the age at which we start to mature, to become more adult than child. But then, that must be because of my literary upbringing, because that plot's been done. This one was slightly more interesting in the fact that the darkness was simply just from the bully (and BOY do you wanna give THAT little brat the smackdown!)

As you might expect, we eventually arrive (after much cool action fight scenes) at the fact that the bully is simply lonely and misunderstood (ah! would that they were ALL like that! and would that they could ALL be 'turned to good' after we simply extend the hand of compassion!). Once the bully is on our side, we then have to save the 'real' world from destruction.

Hint! At this point, George Lopez gives perhaps the best line of the movie. "You made me the bad guy?! I'm a big fat round bad guy!" (Not so hot on the page, but he delivers it well, and you really have to see it in context.)

Oh yeah, we also, throughout the adventure, find out the true meaning of the existence of Shark Boy and Lava Girl, and yes, there are lessons here about true friendship.

This is definitely a great movie . . . one of RR's best (although El Mariachi will always be his numero uno, IMHO), but I would venture to say that you should at least see this movie, if not take the one step further and make it part of your video collection.

VG