Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams
Dimension Films | Release Date: August 7, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kevin Courrier
Blissfully entertaining sequel to last year's Spy Kids, Rodriguez is once again just as good -- if not better -- than the gadgets at hand. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Like a whacked pinata, it spills over with treasures - and one of the best things to fall out is Steve Buscemi, doing a riotously meek variation on the mad-scientist-with-cracked-lenses-and-lab-coat bit. Read full review
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
The Cortez family flies into action with the same testy family dynamics, silly humor and cool gadgetry that animated the first Spy Kids. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Though it's longer and more elaborate than it needs to be, it shares its predecessor's smart but relaxed sense of humor, a sophisticated imagination and the ability to be sharp and playful without being malicious. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The rare sequel that magnifies the scope of the original without diminishing the fun. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The movie is a gaudy, noisy thrill ride -- hyperactive, slightly out of control and full of kinetic, mischievous charm. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Rodriguez is that rare filmmaker who doesn't draw a hard, fixed line between entertaining kids and grown-ups -- he knows that in order to understand what will delight kids, you have to know what will tickle adults as well. Read full review
80
Film ThreatK.J. Doughton
Rodriguez knows kids. No doubt kids will be clamoring to get acquainted with Spy Kids 2, the best sequel to emerge from a children’s franchise in the past several years. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
This is joyful filmmaking, imbued with an infectious, giddy enthusiasm. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Though slightly lacking in the warmth of the first, should no doubt please audiences. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The whole film has a lively Mexican-American tilt, from the Hispanic backgrounds of the young actors to the surprise appearance of none other than Ricardo Montalban, as Grandpa, in a wheelchair with helicopter capabilities. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The inventiveness is still superior and the network of fiends and family is extended. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
A children's movie done with genuinely youthful spirit and an easy self-kidding mastery of its own high-tech gadgetry. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
It's a wonderfully silly family movie that holds its audience in high regard. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Has enough heart and smarts to recommend it as one of the season's worthier family entertainments. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Has once again caught lightning in a bottle and unleashed it on audiences, blending humor, adventure, and a lot of nifty special effects-enabled gadgets and creatures into a movie that provides 1 1/2 hours of unfettered entertainment for children, grandparents, and everyone in between. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The action is so relentless that after a while things start to feel hollow, but Rodriguez still seems to believe the moral articulated at the end of the first film -- that keeping a family together is the real adventure. Read full review
70
VarietyRobert Koehler
The moments of inspired originality are all too infrequent. There's enough eye candy and marvels on screen, however. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Rodriguez has the chops of a smart-aleck film school brat and the imagination of a big kid, and they come together to remake the world in the image of its young audience. It's more amusement park ride than adventure, which in this case is exactly the demographic he's reaching for. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
What's lacking is the simplicity that made the original. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJessica Winter
The poised Vega and pleasingly phlegmatic Sabara are resolutely uncute performers, and the reach-out-and-touch-it gadgetry carries a homey scent of proactive nostalgia. Spy Kids 2 is an island of lost Circuit Cities. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Eye-catching and entertaining but less inspired than the original. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
To the delight of gadgetheads and the dismay of the rest of us, Spy Kids' paraphernalia is better developed and considerably more fun than its story. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
In Spy Kids 2, Rodriguez tries to hold his family-spy saga together with the digital equal of rubber bands and chewing gum.
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
There's way too much CGI gadgetry, some inventive, much simply flashy in the worst kind of video-game way. The kids are nearly lost in the glitz. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The plot is tired, the energy sputtering, the jokes less manic. "Spy Kids" was a shot out of nowhere; Spy Kids 2 feels like a shot from someplace tiresomely familiar.
40
New Times (L.A.)Robert Wilonsky
It's far more than merely disappointing that Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams lacks the charm and wit -- and humanity --of its predecessor. It's dispiriting.
40
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
This time around, writer-director Robert Rodriguez has stumbled badly, creating a clunky, gadget-happy film full of characters -- even returning ones -- about whom it is hard to care. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
One overly busy (not to mention shopworn) story, which regurgitates everything from H.G. Wells's "The Island of Dr. Moreau" to the herky-jerky monsters of Ray Harryhausen to James Bond to "The Mummy." Read full review
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