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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
67
$9.99
75
24 City
66
Adoration
74
Afghan Star
48
Alien Trespass
56
American Violet
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57
Away We Go
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
62
Big Man Japan
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55
Brothers Bloom, The
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx
Call of the Wild
63
Cheri
62
Cherry Blossoms
63
Dead Snow
65
Departures
18
Downloading Nancy
58
Easy Virtue
70
End of the Line, The
77
Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
80
Food, Inc.
38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
87
Gomorrah
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Great Buck Howard, The
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx
Home
82
Hunger
91
Hurt Locker, The
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
81
Il Divo
54
Is Anybody There?
71
Jerichow
58
Julia
74
Lemon Tree
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
40
Limits of Control, The
42
Little Ashes
64
Lymelife
50
Management
57
Merry Gentleman, The
66
Moon
35
New York
62
Not Forgotten
xx
Offshore
78
O'Horten
64
Outrage
40
Paris 36
54
Pontypool
71
Pressure Cooker
52
Quiet Chaos
83
Revanche
67
Rudo y Cursi
86
Seraphine
65
Sex Positive
70
Shall We Kiss?
77
Sin Nombre
59
Sleep Dealer
74
Song of Sparrows, The
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
82
Sugar
84
Summer Hours
61
Sunshine Cleaning
28
Surveillance
42
Tennessee
63
Tetro
64
Throw Down Your Heart
80
Tokyo Sonata
63
Tokyo!
70
Tony Manero
74
Treeless Mountain
88
Tulpan
74
Two Lovers
83
Tyson
83
U2 3D
60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D, The
Dimension Films
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG for mild action and some rude humor
Starring
Taylor Lautner,
Cayden Boyd,
George Lopez,
Taylor Dooley,
Jacob Davich,
Kristin Davis,
and
David Arquette
From the wild imagination of a child and the digital vision of director Robert Rodriguez comes this magical, original, not to mention three-dimensional, family entertainment. (Dimension Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Action
|
Adventure
|
Comedy
|
Family/Kids
|
Fantasy
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Racer Rodriguez (also story)
Robert Rodriguez
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Robert Rodriguez
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: September 20, 2005
Video: September 20, 2005
Theatrical: June 10, 2005
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
92 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
There is such a joy of play in the film that it's easy to overlook the overdone performances and the lazy script shortcuts.
75
New York Post
Kyle Smith
You can't get this kind of full-on sensory-jolt anywhere else, not legally anyway. "Sharkboy" will be equally beloved in elementary schools and in college dorms.
70
Los Angeles Times
Carina Chocano
On the whole it feels genuine. Lautner and Dooley are compelling as the sullen, instinctual Sharkboy and the radiant, hot-headed Lavagirl, and it's easy to see why they dominate shy, hesitant Max's dreams.
70
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
Slight but immensely enjoyable charmer.
60
Dallas Observer
Luke Y. Thompson
Robert Rodriguez and his kids conjure up a charming 3-D fantasy.
50
The Hollywood Reporter
Michael Rechtshaffen
An often imaginative though less than magical family feature.
50
Variety
Joe Leydon
There's little chance of grabbing teens (or even many tweens) during summertime playdates. Still, small fry will be enchanted by this rambunctious action-adventure.
50
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Charmingly low-tech fantasy.
50
Miami Herald
Peter Debruge
The result is like a low-rent "Wizard of Oz" or "Labyrinth," sticking close to the formula of a kid who falls asleep and wakes up in a fantastical wonderland where everything's just a little bit off.
50
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
A case of a yummy yarn spoiled by cheesy visuals.
50
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Only part of it is in 3-D, but youngsters should enjoy pulling their special specs on and off at appropriate moments.
50
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
A strange Hollywood film, but for a home movie it's one bang-up job.
50
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Because the real world scenes are in 2-D and the dream and fantasy scenes are in 3-D, we get an idea of what the movie would have looked like without the unnecessary dimension. Signs flash on the screen to tell us when to put on and take off our polarizing glasses, and I felt regret every time I had to shut out those colorful images and return to the dim and dreary 3-D world. On DVD, this is going to be a great-looking movie.
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
For a movie aimed at children, Shark Boy and Lava Girl is gloomy.
42
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
A story that would be charming if recited at the dinner table tries to carry a feature film, and it's not even close to the task. The result is screamingly bad.
42
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Like choral singing and travel photography, this adventure is more fun for participants than it is for spectators.
40
The New York Times
Lawrence Van Gelder
Mr. Rodriguez seems unsure what his film is really about, making the moral of the story -- "dream an unselfish dream" -- feel more like a vaguely judgmental homily than a satisfying conclusion.
38
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
As sweet and hopeless and silly as a doting dad framing his second-grader's latest finger-painting and calling it a Matisse.
38
Chicago Tribune
Allison Benedikt
There's really just not a lot here. I'm sure Racer's story will entertain the very wee ones -- but so do keys.
38
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
The story's so sloppy that it contradicts itself constantly.
38
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
The low-tech film looks like a kid's crude drawing, plays like entry-level Game Boy, and is about as nourishing as a Tootsie Pop.
38
USA Today
Mike Clark
There's sad news to report about The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D: Put on the cardboard glasses, and you can still see the movie.
30
Village Voice
Ben Kenigsberg
Based on characters created by Rodriguez's then-seven-year-old son, Racer Max, the film doesn't belong in wide release. It belongs on a refrigerator door, alongside "100%" spelling tests, old lunch menus, and notices from the PTA.
30
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
Sadly, the film's creaky, sometimes painful dialogue makes it all too easy to believe that it was genuinely co-written by a small child.
30
Time
Richard Corliss
Pretty lame. Sharkboy has an especially frantic, amateur atmosphere, with a mostly maladroit cast.
30
TV Guide
Angel Cohn
The concept is cute and the movie starts out well, but it devolves into a muddled, overstuffed mess that wears out its welcome around the time the novelty of 3-D effects wears off.
25
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
One could forgive a budget this threadbare, performances this amateurish, a plot this tortuous if the 3-D effects passed the cool test. Sadly, watching ''Adventures" is an experience akin to seeing the world through dung-colored glasses.
25
San Francisco Chronicle
Ruthe Stein
Sharkboy relies almost entirely on 3-D for its kicks. The novelty, however, quickly wears thin with the thinnest of stories to project.
20
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Visually undistinguished, narratively inert, populated by a cast of charmless child actors, "Sharkboy and Lavagirl," with any luck will fade quickly from theaters, memories and Rodriguez's own Things to Do Today list.
20
Empire
Simon Braund
A bizarre, hopelessly muddled fantasy that's likely to induce utter bewilderment in its target audience.
10
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
The result is astoundingly boring and, frankly, tedious to sit through.
 The average user rating for this movie is 4.9 (out of 10) based on 110 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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