The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (3D)

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (3D)'s classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (3D) completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 9 September 05.

Overall comments and recommendations

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (3D) ) is an adventure story set in the dreamed imaginings of the main character, Max. Younger children may enjoy the exploits of the young heroes / heroines, the computer generated landscapes of Planet Drool and the visual and 3D effects, but older children and adults may find the film somewhat dull, as the acting, humour and dialogue are rather flat and the use of 3D detracts rather than adds to the experience.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (3D) contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Max (Cayden Boyd) is young boy with vivid dreams and imagination. On his first day back at school, he tells his fourth grade class about his meetings with Sharkboy (Taylor Lautner) and Lavagirl (Taylor Dooley) over the holidays and their adventures on Planet Drool. Unfortunately, neither his teacher Mr Electricidad (George Lopez) nor his classmates believe his stories. Max has other problems too. He is being bullied by classmate, Linus (Jacob Davich), and at home, all is not well in his parents’ (David Arquette and Kristin Davis) marriage. He wishes he could sleep and dream all day, but his teacher tells him it is time for ‘no more dreaming’.

Events take a dramatic turn when Sharkboy and Lavagirl actually visit Max, first at his home, then at his school under the guise of a tornado. They tell Max that Planet Drool is dying and that he is the only one who can save it. He agrees to go with them and realises that everything about Sharkboy, Lavagirl and Planet Drool is based on his dream world. Once on Planet Drool, he discovers that Mr Electric, under the orders of a darker force, is preventing children from dreaming, which in turn is causing a darkness to fall over the whole Planet. Max, Sharkboy and Lavagirl have less than 45 minutes to get to the Dream Lair to stop the destruction of the planet. In the process, they meet some familiar faces and learn much about themselves and the power of friendship and dreams.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There are a few violent scenes, including:

• Mr Electric uses giant electricity plugs to shower the children with electricity. They appear to be in pain when this occurs.
  
• Mr Electric is attacked in a shark frenzy.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

There are some scenes that could scare children under the age of eight, particularly preschoolers, including:

• When Sharkboy is little, he is separated from his father during a big storm while at sea. He appears scared and sad. He is later told by Mr Electric that his father is at the bottom of the ocean.
  
• Max’s parents are shown fighting on a few occasions (yelling at each other).
  
• Max is taunted and chased by Linus and his friends. They are trying to get Max’s dream diary and eventually succeed. Later, Max states that he doesn’t want to go to school because he is afraid of getting picked on.
  
• A big tornado approaches the school, blowing in the classroom windows. All the children appear afraid.
  
• Planet Drool is covered in darkness and Max appears afraid to begin the journey to the Dream Lair.
  
• Mr Electric frequently mocks and chases the children, either with giant electric plugs or his bloodhounds.
  
• Both Sharkboy and Lavagirl risk their lives to save each other. At one point, both appear to have perished and Max is clearly upset and crying.
  
• Max’s parents are swept up into the tornado (they are later rescued by Sharkboy and Lavagirl).

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Some of the above-mentioned scenes could concern some children in the 8–13 age bracket, particularly:

• Mr Electric using the giant electricity plugs
  
• The scene where it appears that both Sharkboy and Lavagirl appear to have died

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

There is nothing in this movie that would scare children over the age of thirteen.

Product placement

The teacher, Mr Electricidad uses an Apple iBook during his class.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in this movie.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity or sexual activity in this movie.

Use of substances

There is no use of substances in this movie.

Coarse language

There is no coarse language in this movie.

The movie's message

The main messages from this movie are about good overcoming evil, loyalty to friends, that if dreams don’t come true you need to dream a better dream and that a good teacher learns as much from his students as they from him.

Values parents may wish to encourage include:

• Loyalty and friendship
  
• Forgiveness
  
• Moving forward in life, not looking back.
  
• Courage and persistence against the odds.

This movie could give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their consequences, such as disrespect towards teachers and teasing or bullying.