Spy Kids 3D

One and a half stars. More than just disappointing: actively bad.

Juni Cortez (one of the Spy Kids) has left the Agency vowing never to return. But when his sister Carmen is trapped inside a hyper-immersive virtual reality videogame, he just can't refuse the mission to rescue her. Most of the film takes place inside the game, and that's where all the 3-D gimmickry comes in. However, the effects aren't good enough to distract attention from the cliché-ridden plot and severely lacklustre acting (even by the standard of kids' films). Many kids will never have seen a 3D movie before, so they may well like it for its novelty value. But remove that, and you're left with nothing but junk. Even the vast numbers of cameo appearances become tedious and annoying by the end. (One bright light, though: George Clooney doing a Sylvester Stallone impression. That was funny.)