Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl in 3-D (DVD, 2005)

My six-year old twin girls love this movie-they've watched it at least 20 times in the last month! Most of the time I watch with them, and must say I have really enjoyed it, too.
Children relate easily to the basic triumph of good vs. evil as the [super]heroes, as well as the "Everyman" heroes and villains, are themselves children. This is the outer layer of the story, which is wrapped in exciting, imaginative landscapes and special effects. To leave it at this level would satisfy many children, but other themes keep a more mature child's or an adult's, interest as well. Max("Everychild")is involved in a struggle to keep his dreams, or to move on to dream a better dream. As an adult, I find this theme the most valuable; we've all had this dilemma, but have we had the courage to not only keep dreaming, but to dream a better dream? Mr. Electricidad learns this when his anti-dream equivalent, Mr. Electric, is shattered, as his student teaches him the better-dream lesson through his daughter. Max also shows Linus that even when your dreams have gone, it is possible to build a better dream. Many children will also relate on a primary level to the remodeling of a bully into a friend with a new dream.
Many little details, and plays on words, add charm, humor, and/or insight. An early scene in which Shark Boy and Lava Girl visit Max at night demonstrates the current state of Max's parents dreams; unwilling to acknowledge Max's visitors/dreams, they fail to notice the melted glass from which Lava Girl drank or the serrated bite marks in Shark Boy's cookie, and the wet footprints. After the "storm" Linus stands up from his desk where he'd fallen asleep, leaving his drool in a puddle on his desk, possibly to represent leaving his bad dreams, or ruined dreams, in the past on Planet Drool.
I'd hate to give away any more of the creative details in the movie. It is a fresh, unique way to encourage a child's (or adult's) imagination. Max's Dream Journal is so cool it would inspire a child to create one of his own.
I wish there were more movies like this for younger elementary children. We are pretty selective about what we allow the girls to see, and this movie jumped to the top of my list for its age-appropriate themes as it maintains their interest with a suitable level of excitement and fun---and I enjoy watching it with them!

i really like the movie the adventures of sharkboy and lavagirl when i did watch it on the television its has alot of action in the film i did like the character lavagirl because she is made of lava from a volcano and sharkboy is a boy raised bt sharks, the adventures of sharkboy and lavagirl is a family film that is made to watch with the entire family. disney made this film the adventures of sharkboy and lavagirl, i do like the actress taylor dooley who portray lavagirl in the film i do recommend this dvd title to families that has little kids to watch with them. even though its 4 yrs old the movie itself i do remember going to see it at the movie theater in 2005 the summer of 2005 like july 2005 and i think was the movie was worth the money to see at the theater.

A movie for the young at heart, my son had seen this movie only a few times on TV when he announced to me that he wanted to see it again. As I had already deleted the movie off of the DVR, I told him if he remembered in a few days, I would buy it off of eBay for him.
Sure enough, the kid remembered a couple of days later and one was available on eBay.
In my opinion, the movie itself can get pretty boring for adults as I watched it several times, but for some reason a three-year old can watch it multiple times over the course of a year. The acting is really good for young adult actors, including a young Taylor Lautner. I also liked the characters (like the bad guys) in the dream world, although the setting of 'Planet Drool' does sound like the script was written by a five-year old - but that really is the appeal of the movie to a young audience. The movie is SO unrealistic, that it could only be a dream.
George Lopez also gets high marks in my review book for hitting his two characters perfectly.
The coolest thing about this movie is that it doesn't give my son nightmares. He knows and acknowledges that most of the movie is a dream.
Overall, I chose a "good" rating, with high marks for children who are allowed to watch a minimal amount of fighting scenes, although the fighting is less than other movies he's seen anyway.

This movie was very suprising to me, I didn't expect it to be as fun as it was. This movie is all about imagination, heroes, and dreams. Max is the dreamer in the film and also the hero, though he does not know it... yet. He has a great adventure with his "dream heroes" Sharkboy & Lavagirl. Max learns a lot about himself along the way, just like in every good kid movie.
My 3 year olds picked out this movie to watch. I have one boy and one girl. They both love this movie so much that they beg to watch it at least once a week.
The only major downfall for the movie is; if you are an adult or have older kids, Sharkboy and Lavagirl may leave you kind of cold. The acting is not fabulous but not horrible by the young actors and the story is up for debate. Personally, I thought it was pretty well thought out for a "children/family" film, my husband on the other hand just didn't. I guess it's all in the way you look at things - if you're a kid at heart you'll probably think it's cute.

A young boy falls asleep, and enters a storybook dream world that he himself created. Definitely gets your attention for the first 5 minutes, and is certainly quit imaginitive. Certain scenes are fun to watch, though others tend to drag. Actor-comedian George Lopez adds a lot of interest to the movie, as he plays several characters in the film, including the young boy's school teacher. What really amazes me is that most of the scenes in the film were actually inspired by director Robert Rodriguez's 6 year-old son, Racer Max. Despite its flaws , it is still a very enjoyable film for all ages.