I gave this one a shot only because I was lazy and when it showed up front and center on Netflix, I just hit the play button. And it was a kid friendly superhero flick and seemed ok… and then Sharkboy and Lava Girl showed up! And I had to blink a few times and confirm… yeah, this was a Robert Rodriguez kid adventure flick. And, hey, is that Pedro Pascal opening in a movie the same day as Wonder Woman 84? And is that Christian Slater? So weird.

So the flick is about the children of this Earth’s mightiest (and dysfunctional-ist) heroes who are kidnapped by invading aliens. The kids have to get their acts together and take the fight to them and rescue their parents. Yes, this means Sharkboy and Lava Girl have a little girl of their own… who wants to rip and tear.

I’ll admit to some affection for this movie which is technically a bad movie but it was still kinda cheezy fun. Wish it hadn’t been so sluggishly paced, especially in the third act. The kids are generally good enough actors and the visual FX give them a leg up on the action, surely.

Like all Robert Rodriguez kids action flicks, the visual FX are overproduced, under impressive, and very cartoony. Improved in the nine years (!) since his last kids’ adventure at least. Once again he has shot, scored, and cut the film… he continues to be a one-man wrecking crew… and sometimes (often) he should probably take a step back and share the work. But you can’t fault the guy’s ambition.

Score: 69