This superhero film is aimed at kids, it comes with a graphic style that I remember from other movies when I was younger. All the heroes are children and it has three important messages: Dreams have power, Teachers destroy imagination, We should always make an effort with others.

Sharkboy is strong, has shark teeth and desires to be king of the ocean so he can find his dad as well as being quite an aggressive character. Lavagirl is hot to the touch and shoots lava from her hands yet she has a softer personality and some slightly emotional scenes. The pair are weak to one another’s strengths but even being opposites in their existence manage to be close friends.

The plot of the movie is all about how a child is told not to dream anymore, both the teacher and the class bully want to destroy all the dreams. Two imaginary heroes (Sharkboy and Lavagirl) appear and take the dreamer to their homeland and together the three of them overcome obstacles to eventually sort everything out.

There’s some creative ideas put into the dreamland which can be quite clever at times. A land of milk and cookies, a train of thought, a giant bed where the ruler of the dreamland lives and much more help to make the dreamland seem more exciting and believable. The acting ability of some of the children is pretty good too, at least for the style of movie they’re in.

It’s a nice movie for kids and although I’ve never seen this before it reminded me of the Spy Kids movies, taking me back to childhood. The concept of a dreamland where dreams have power is a good idea too and for a more adult version you can try find South Park’s Imagination Land episodes.

It was a struggle to get into this movie, me being an adult watching a film that was clearly for kids but I honestly enjoyed it. The quality of effects and acting as well as good messages and a cleverly built world with a reasonably good story about belief and friendship combine into something that although not a high quality was fun for children and a reminder of my own childhood.

Sometimes as adults we need to embrace our childish side because as this film shows with Minus’ character, our beliefs or dreams can influence how we react to the world. I’d definitely get kids to sit through this one if I had any.

I do think the title could have just been Sharkboy and Lavagirl. The adventures bit sounds like it should be a TV series.