The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D

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The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl
Promotional poster for The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl
Directed by	Robert Rodriguez
Produced by	Elizabeth Avellan
Written by	Racer Rodriguez, Robert Rodriguez
Starring	Cayden Boyd, Taylor Lautner, Taylor Dooley, George Lopez
Distributed by	- USA - Dimension Films - non-USA - Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	10 June 2005
Running time	93 mins
Language	English
Budget	$35,000,000+
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The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl is a 2005 film, directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film uses the same anaglyph 3D technology used in Spy Kids 3D: Game Over.

• Tagline: Smaller heroes. Just as super.

[edit] Extended Summary

A boy called simply Max, living in Texas, is lonely and dissatisfied with his dull, seemingly meaningless daily life. His parents do not help, though they wish to, because their minds are precluded by their own disagreements. He has no friends at school or anywhere; therefore he resorts to his vivid imagination to create some. His efforts result in an amazing dreamworld called "Planet Drool", where endless fun and brilliant dreaming are the norm.

Planet Drool's status quo is maintained by the computer-like Mr. Electric, who is a version or analogue of Max's schoolteacher, Mr. Electricidad. The Planet's people are threatened by the obscuring Darkness and defended by two young warriors, Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Sharkboy is the son and apprentice of a marine biologist who studied and even befriended great white sharks. He was separated from his father during a storm at sea, later to become the protege of an anthropomorphic shark nicknamed Kraken. From this shark, he learned to survive by "moving... always forward, never back". This training has created a sharp impatience and belligerence, as well as great strength and speed, in Sharkboy. Lavagirl's origins are not known, even by her; in the early stages of the story, she has almost no knowledge and very little confidence of and in herself. The fact that she is made primarily of animated lava frightens her, because in consequence thereof she radiates great heat, destroying most of what she touches. She fears above all else that she is a thing of destruction, destined only to wreak evil.

Max's parents, for their part, are given to conflict because of their seemingly incompatible priorities. The father is given to dreaming--like their son-- while the mother believes in maintaining a sense of real and unreal.

One day, Max presents a story he wrote about Sharkboy and Lavagirl as a summary of his activities during school holidays. No one is at all kind to him, except the teacher's daughter Marissa; most of the other students tease Max and create derisive renderings of his dream. After class, the teacher suggests that Max attempt to make friends in his real world, so as to distract himself from dreaming.

When Max is walking home, another student named Linus steals a journal in which Max records his dreams, later to corrupt it by drawing his own contemptuous ideas among Max's more creative ones. On the following day, Max confronts Linus. Mr. Electricidad intervenes, demanding that both boys report to the school principal's office after class, accompanied by their respective parents, to talk the problem over. As he speaks to that effect, his words become arrogant and his tone becomes snide.

A few moments later, Max notices that Marissa is very cold. Pointing out that she sits beneath the air-cooling vent, he offers to change places. This catches the attention of Mr. Electricidad, who is very possessive of his daughter. Fearing that Max has designs upon her, he calls the boy forward to bid him otherwise. Max, realizing what his teacher is driving at, proclaims that his desires were not to curry favor with Marissa. Partly through his sentence, the wall of the schoolroom is broken down by a sudden cyclonic wind. Blown in by this wind are Sharkboy and Lavagirl in person.

Astonished, class and teacher allow the two dream characters to find Max, seize him, and carry him away to their spacecraft, in which they will take him to Planet Drool. Neither of them denies that they are Max's creations; on the contrary, Lavagirl says to Max, when speaking of her home planet, "You should know, Max; you made it up".

The three of them set off, landing with a crash on Planet Drool, which resembles a deserted fun-fair. All children supposed by Max are trapped in a never-ending roller-coaster ride, called Mount Neverest. They have been placed so by Mr. Electric, who has betrayed them all to an unknown person.

Sharkboy and Lavagirl stop the ride and release the children, followed by Max. The trio descend into Mr. Electric's lair, where they fight dramatically against a group of gigantic, animated, electric power cords. Eventually, Mr. Electric captures them all and sends them down the "Passage of Time" to the Dream Graveyard, where all useless or forsaken dreams lie derelict. As they ride the Passage of Time, it is revealed that Sharkboy desires to be King of the Ocean, while Lavagirl desires a positive use for her composition.

In the Dream Graveyard, Sharkboy and Lavagirl attempt to exploit Max by challenging him to dream. The assumption is that as his imagination created Planet Drool, it might affect the course of cause and effect, in that anything he dreams will become real. Max, uncertain of how to proceed, is saved from doing so by his discovery of Tobor. Tobor is one of Max's forsaken dreams; a sapient, android robot who functions as a consultant. Waking Tobor, Max and his friends discover that if Max dreams up anything in the Graveyard, the Darkness summoned by Mr. Electric will pervert his dreams into nightmares. A safe place-- perhaps the only safe place-- is the Land of Milk and Cookies. To find it, the three must catch, steer, and ride the Train of Thought.

Using Tobor's eyes and mouth-- the only mobile parts of his body-- as a means of flight, they are carried to the Train of Thought and set to assume control of it. Tobor, having been believed in, is saved from being a "useless dream" and is therefore now free.

Keeping the Train of Thought on track is beyond the knowledge of Max and his friends; the Train wrecks, luckily in the very dreamland they sought. In the land of Milk and Cookies, the trio settle down with the intent of having Max dream them to victory.

Meanwhile, Mr. Electric has received orders to pursue them. Accompanied by his seeker Plughounds, he sets off accordingly.

Max's efforts to dream are tenuous at first; Lavagirl and Sharkboy take it upon themselves to sing him a lullaby. Of them, Sharkboy is the more successful, due to his graphic sense of poetry and his superior singing voice. Max's dreaming session is interrupted when Mr. Electric and his Plughounds discover the heroes. A fight results, wherein Sharkboy and Lavagirl hold their own initially but are eventually overpowered. Max, with Lavagirl's urging, imagines a means by which to escape, which takes the form of a "banana split boat"; an arrangement of ice-cream and fruit that floats on water.

In this uncommon craft, the heroes escape via the Stream of Consciousness. Once away from their enemies, they analyze the content of Max's dreams. One of the most significant images is that of the Crystal Heart, a signature amulet worn by the Ice Princess.

According to Sharkboy, this Crystal Heart can freeze anything, even time. If this feat could be enacted, the trio might secure the dream journal and use it to put a stop to Planet Drool's chaos.

In order to find the Crystal Heart, they must cross a long, narrow bridge. Because this bridge is made of ice, Lavagirl cannot walk on it without melting it beneath her feet. Desperately, her friends advise her to sleepwalk across. This method almost succeeds, but their efforts are thwarted by Mr. Electric, who has come ahead of them.

Mr. Electric takes the three prisoner and presents them to his new master, who resides in a thinking-centre called the Dream Lair. This master styles himself Minus, ruler of Planet Drool; he is actually Linus, Max's fellow-student, empowered by his reading of Max's book of dreams. Desiring to torment Max, "Minus" plans to destroy Planet Drool dream by dream. He locks the three in a hanging cage to watch.

The strengths of Sharkboy and Lavagirl have waned; they can neither savage nor melt the cage's bars. Max considers himself powerless. As they sit, a flock of tiny dream-creatures called Lalas drift into the cage, singing. Although their song soothes Lavagirl, it irritates Sharkboy, who has been trained to listen for high frequencies. Urged by Lavagirl, the Lalas sing louder and at higher frequencies, provoking Sharkboy to attack the object in nearest proximity to him-- the cage itself. With hands and teeth, he literally tears it apart.

Having escaped, the trio steal the dream journal from Minus. Max begins reading from it, generating such results as a "lava bike"; a motorcycle of Lavagirl's very own. This excites the fiery dream, who seizes the journal, intending to read it. At once, the journal is burned to ashes.

Lavagirl, shattered, laments fervently her own tendency toward destruction. She passionately questions Max as to why he made her of lava, as well as why he made her to be Sharkboy's partner. They are nothing alike, says she. Max has no answer for her; Sharkboy's own actions, on the other hand, suggest that they are a team for to complement one another.

Abruptly it occurs to Max that they still may use the Crystal Heart. To that end, they return to the Ice Castle. There, they attempt to steal the Heart, only to be captured and taken before its master. Max, prompted by Sharkboy, bargains with the Ice Princess (who more than slightly resembles his fellow-student Marissa). She agrees to lend him the Heart, on conditions imposed by her father the Ice Guardian. Under the imposed conditions, Max must hold the Crystal Heart until death parts them.

Sharkboy and Max skate across the frozen Sea of Confusion, pushing the equally frozen Lavagirl before them like a wheelbarrow. Their attempt to use the Crystal Heart fails just as the Darkness descends on them. Lavagirl breaks free of the ice and exclaims exasperatedly that only the Ice Princess may use the Crystal Heart.

Mr. Electric, who has followed them again, challenges Sharkboy by revealing dead fish on an electrified ocean. Sharkboy advances, but is rendered insentient by electric eels. He sinks.

Spurning Max's warnings, Lavagirl rescues Sharkboy. But Max's fears are justified; Lavagirl faints, and seems to die. Max is alone.

As he sits, wondering what to do, Tobor's face appears like a helpful djinn. He asks Max what he thinks to do. "Dream a better dream," replies Max. Tobor is interested and desires further explanation. Max explains to the effect that he had originally dreamed with the sole intent of escaping his real world, when his real world needed him to become a better place. "Selfish dreams", he says, "shouldn't come true".

Tobor compliments Max, calling him a "very good dreamer". Max asks again what to do; Tobor replies in his own words, "Dream a better dream. An unselfish dream".

Tobor floats away into the darkened sky. Sharkboy wakens abruptly, to see Lavagirl in a stupor beside him. As both boys bend over their fallen friend, a volcano erupts in the distance. Sharkboy takes Lavagirl's prone body and runs toward the crater, intending to cast her into it.

While Sharkboy is hastening to his task, Max begins imagining what Lavagirl truly is. She is not, he says, "destruction, or a simple flame." She is, instead, light. Revived by the heat of the volcano, Lavagirl hears Max's naming of her and turns it to her advantage. In a brilliant display of power, she burns away Mr. Electric's Darkness.

Max, seeing the power of his dreams, imagines himself to stand beside Sharkboy. Within seconds, there he is. In quick succession, Max thaws the Sea of Confusion, grants Sharkboy command over the Ocean and its denizens, and hastens to the Dream Lair to vanquish Minus. There, he and Minus face one another in a contest of dreams. "May the best dream win!" proclaims Minus.

Sharkboy, aided by several mako sharks, pins Mr. Electric down.

Max and Minus compete for a short while, before Max realizes why they are fighting. At some time in the past, someone broke Linus' own dreams; seeking to rid himself of the pain, Linus has been seeking to destroy everything that reminds him of what he has lost.

Now, Max offers Linus the hand of a friend, with the promise that it is possible to create a better dream. Linus accepts.

On returning to the Dream Lair, Max and Linus are greeted by Lavagirl, who is flushed and elated with her discovery that she is a light-- a positive energy, a source of hope and life. Sharkboy, too, is satisfied with his new role as King of the Ocean.

Mr. Electric, however, has so much enjoyed being wicked that he is not willing to resume his former duties. When given the chance to do so, he flies toward Earth, intending to find Max there and kill him. Max, in turn, follows Mr. Electric to Earth; he arrives seconds ahead. Mr. Electric's arrival has stirred the local weather into an F5 tornado, which threatens to raze the school. He appears spectacularly from this vortex, shouting humourously "Charge!"

Seeing his own face and hearing his own voice coming from what he terms "a big round bad guy", Mr. Electricidad is horrified by the thought that this is the impression he has made on his student's imagination.

Max's parents, still arguing, are on their way to retrieve their son. The wind proves too strong and threatens to separate them. The father holds a sapling tree with one hand and his wife with the other, but she cannot hold on for long. He begs her not to leave him; she is, he says, his best friend. Dominating his efforts, the tornado sweeps her away. She is rescued by Lavagirl. Moments later, the father is caught in the wind as well; he is rescued by Sharkboy.

In the classroom, Mr. Electricidad asks his students to offer ideas by which they may defeat Mr. Electric. Linus immediately offers to engage the invader in combat. He is shocked with a bolt of lightning, which does not terribly injure him though it burns the "real" dream journal to ashes. Max tosses it aside, saying that there are "plenty more dreams where those came from".

Linus has another idea; they might freeze Mr. Electric's circuits. Max still has the Crystal Heart in his pocket; he gives it to Marissa and sends her into the breach. Marissa, with supreme confidence, advances into Mr. Electric's storm and destroys him. Caught by the power of the Crystal Heart, Mr. Electric transforms into unseasonal snow.

Later, conditions have improved all around. Linus has resumed creating positive dreams; Marissa now sits in a warm place; Mr. Electricidad is no longer possessive of her. Sharkboy is in search of his father, but seeks also to protect aquatic life. Lavagirl has assumed royalty of oceanic volcanoes-- "a source of life," as Max describes them, "for all living creatures." Max, for his own part, has resumed building Tobor. At the end of the film, Tobor's eyes light up and he asks "Yes?"

[edit] Cast

• Taylor Lautner Shark Boy
• Taylor Dooley Lava Girl
• Cayden Boyd as Max
• George Lopez as Mr. Electric, Tobor, the Ice Guardian and Mr. Electricidad
• David Arquette as Max's Dad
• Kristin Davis as Max's Mom
• Sasha Pieterse as the Ice Princess and Marrisa Electricidad
• Jacob Davich as Linus and Minus

[edit] Reception

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D was widely panned by critics, with a 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes [1] yet performed modestly at the box office, grossing $39.1 million in North America and $30.2 million overseas [2]. Stars Taylor Lautner and Taylor Dooley were nominated for acting awards at the 2006 Young Artist Awards for their work in this movie [3].

[edit] Trivia

• The story was conceived by Robert Rodriguez's then seven-year-old son Racer Rodriguez, who receives an on-screen "Story By" credit. The character of "Max" is named after the middle name of Racer.
• Professional wrestler Dean Roll, who trademarked the name "Shark Boy" in 1999, filed a lawsuit against Miramax on June 8, 2005, claiming that his trademark had been infringed and demanding "[any] money, profits and advantages wrongfully gained".
• Original theme song "Sharkboy and Lavagirl" composed and performed by Rob Magnanti and Liz Hudson.
• The name "Mr. Electricidad", belonging to Max's schoolteacher, is suggestive of three ideas; those being the dream character Mr. Electric, a Spanish-speaking heritage, and the meaning "electric father".
• The drawing of "Mr. Positive" that Linus made at the end of the movie has the same head as Nester from Nintendo Power Magazine's Nester and Howard] comic strips.

[edit] External links

• The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl official site
• The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl at the Internet Movie Database