Throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s, a newfound cinematic focus emerged as producers became increasingly interested in appealing to younger demographics.  Many of this movement’s products failed to impress, but a few outliers universally entertained wide ranges of audiences.  Alongside Spy Kids 3: Game Over and the Alvin and The Chipmunks saga, the most enduring artifact of the era was The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.
Starring Taylor Lautner and Taylor Dooley as the namesake characters, the film provides a dazzling experience, filled with excellently choreographed action, complex characters and conflicts, and profoundly symbolic lessons.  The movie details the struggle of Max (Cayden Boyd), a 10-year-old boy who lives in a suburban home, plagued by arguments between his parents (David Arquette and Kristin Davis), the bullying of an abusive classmate named Linus (Jacob Davich), and his society-emulating teacher, Mr. Electricidad (George Lopez).  Inundated by a world incompatible with him, with the exception of his teacher’s sympathetic daughter Marissa (Sasha Pieterse), Max consistently escapes to his own fantasy world, “Planet Drool,” about which he writes in a “dream book.”  When his book is stolen by Linus, Max dreams the plot of the film overnight, in which he’s whisked into a projection of Planet Drool during a tornado.  When the events actually occur during the following day in class, Max finds that the world has been corrupted by Linus (called Minus in the world), and its power generator, Mr. Electric (also portrayed by George Lopez) actively hunts the heroes down.  Throughout the journey, amidst encounters with Max’s unremembered fantasies, Max relearns how to dream and take control of his life.  In the climax of the movie, Linus/Minus is reassured of his own ability to dream, the line between dreams and reality is torn down, and Mr. Electric is finally defeated.  The tale concludes as the turmoils of the various characters are resolved.
For a more profound understanding of the movie and its intentions, the first place to look is Max’s struggle.  His experience symbolizes one that everyone follows around his age: a struggle to balance fantasy and society.  Throughout early stages of the film, Max is buffeted by those around him with insistence that his dreams are foolish, and should be abandoned.  This influence provokes Planet Drool’s corruption, and approaching destruction, as the real world drives into his head that he has no need for it.  Ultimately, it becomes clear that the writers want to evoke the authenticity of fantasies, as Sharkboy and Lavagirl, as well as a collapsed robot called Tobor (still George Lopez), assert to Max that all developments are instigated by dreams.  This lesson is further exemplified by the elimination of the barrier between dreams and reality at the end of the film, as Mr. Electricity takes a solid form in the real world, as well as the crystal heart that banishes him.  The writers deliver a sensation that children are torn from worlds that retain significance.  Ultimately, Max loses his dependence on his world as a shelter when his dream book is destroyed, and develops the ability to find a role in both his fantasy and his reality.
Similar human developments are emulated by those of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, though this time with general themes of significance and purpose.  Both struggle with the way Max created them.  Sharkboy suffered a tragic origin story of separation, and seeks to find his missing father and become king of the sea.  His ambitions symbolize that of many who debate whether they can reach high positions, and retain the passions of their origins.  Sharkboy is locked in a Limbo of failing to reach higher and losing his roots in the process.  Through his participation in the story, Sharkboy learns how to reconcile these pursuits with clarification from Max’s dream book.  Lavagirl’s struggle is more existential, however.  Fearful of her habit of burning anything she touches, Lavagirl begins to question her purpose in the world.  She demands that Max tell her why she’s a good person, and doubts this truth when Max fails to remember how to do so.  Ultimately, she utilizes her power of destruction to restore and reenergize Planet Drool to its natural state.  Through this process, she becomes aware that she is not only lava, but also light.
The final struggles depicted by the movie occur in Linus and Max’s parents, who all discourage Max’s dreams before seeing their power.  This development is shared by the regular adult audience watching the movie, who also discover and recognize the power of something they once lost, and now discourage themselves.  As the advantages and importance of imagination are slowly exposed throughout the film, these characters and the audience they emulate realize what they’ve unfortunately lost.  The positive conclusion soon resounds with the audience, leaving them considering how they can manifest the movie’s message as they walk their separate ways from the screen.  This development is paralleled by Mr. Electricidad, who represents a society desperate to impose and sustain its values through an education system.  Originally rejecting Max’s tendency to dream, Electricidad instead discovers that the dreams “awaken” him, and that he doesn’t truly know everything.
Under my obligation to notice flaws in the film, the first places I was forced to turn were its music and special effects.  While the former contains some stellar tracks, including “Lavagirl’s Sacrifice” and “Dream Dream Dream Dream (Dream Dream),” there were several jarring occasions in which the music was not properly aligned with the atmosphere or pacing of the story.  Though these occasions were admirably seldom, they did occur, and unfortunately detached the audience for brief scenes.  The special effects shared this issue, suffering merely from circumstantial inconvenience and precedent.  Robert Rodriguez, the film’s director and writer, is famous for stylistically cartoonish special effects due to the low budgets of his early “Spy Kids” films.  Though this style introduced a unique appeal to the earlier movies, “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl” is characterized by a more mature and complex tone, so the film’s quality ultimately suffers from the style’s introduction.
Despite minor mishaps, the movie provides a thoughtful, complex, and exciting experience, retained by everyone with the privilege of witnessing it.  For this, I have assigned my opinionated scores that I believe the film has earned in various criteria:
Story: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Music: 8/10
Animation and CG/Cinematography: 7/10
Enjoyment: 10/10

Overall: 8.8/10
I would recommend this movie to anybody, but feel that it is best enjoyed by a parent watching with a child.  A person in this position can best realize and manifest the lessons that this film has to offer, and hopefully preserve the dreams of their own family.