SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: SUPERBABIES: BABY GENIUSES 2

"SUPERBABIES: BABY GENIUSES 2"
(2004) (Jon Voight, Scott Baio) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	*None	*Mild	Mild	Mild

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	Moderate	None	Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Minor	Minor	Moderate	Mild	Moderate

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: Recalling the original film's plot, babies in Los Angeles have their own language and join with a super-heroic seven-year-old to fight off an evil German now living in Hollywood who means to take over the world by way of a satellite uplink.

PLOT:

Media mogul Bill Biscane (JON VOIGHT) aspires to "world domination" via a mind-altering device sent through television. Ambitious Stan Bobbins (SCOTT BAIO) and his wife Jean (VANESSA ANGEL) unknowingly agree to help the villain, by becoming partners in his scheme to launch his network. (Stan is brother to the first film's Dan [PETER MacNICOL] pictured here in a framed photo on Stan's desk).

Together, the Bobbins run an elite daycare center called BobbinsWorld, where four babies in particular -- Archie (MICHAEL and MAX ILES), Quentin Finkleman (JORDAN and JARED SCHEIDERMAN), Alex (JOSHUA and MAXWELL LOCKHART) and Rosita (MAIA and KEANA BASTIDAS) -- join with the superhero, Kahuna (LEO, MYLES, and GERRY FITZGERALD, returned from the first film) to protect "all the children of the world."

Biscane and Kahuna's previous encounter is revealed in a flashback narrated by Archie. In "East Berlin, 1962," Kahuna saves German children from a barracks-like orphanage. Biscane, then named Captain Kane and dressed like a Nazi, instructs his armed guards to stop the child, but he bests them with gadgets and mighty fighting skills (the last initiated when he drinks a glowing neon-green fluid from his baby bottle and his arm and chest muscles bulge out). Kane swears revenge against Kahuna.

Back in present Los Angeles, Stan and Jean remain clueless when Biscane shows up with minions. One of them, Crowe (PETER WINGFIELD) loses a CD that contains the mind-control data (to be sent out through a children's TV show), and it lands in a stroller bearing the four babies, and piloted by Stan's teenaged niece Kylie (SKYLER SHAYE). Kahuna shows his new friends his secret lair and gizmos (including holograms). He calls Stan and Jean, and lies to them, saying they are in San Diego and being looked after by a policeman, who appears on the telephone video screen as one of Kahuna's holograms.

Kylie meets Kahuna's assistant Zack (JUSTIN CHATWIN), who explains Kahuna's back story: Kahuna's scientist father (BARRY GREENE), working in East Berlin, made a serum that the child accidentally ingested as a baby. Kahuna's older brother resents him. The father dies, and Kahuna pledges to carry on his vision of helping children all over the world. Because he can never grow up, he is "the Peter Pan of babies." Back in present day, Kahuna and Biscane eventually have a showdown, with assistance from the babies and Stan and Jean.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Preschoolers might, but older preteens and teenagers will find it silly and boring, with terrible special effects and awkward performances adding to the tedium factor.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For action violence and some rude humor.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: JON VOIGHT is a booted, campy, and out-of-date Nazi who reinvents himself as a media mogul, preying on children's tendency to watch television instead of play outside, and willing to abuse children to get what he wants -- money.
SCOTT BAIO and VANESSA ANGEL are loving but utterly oblivious parents (they believe the fake videophone transmission from the babies and Kylie), who only at the end don black leather jackets and jeans and help the babies against the villains, like a slow-on-the-uptake version of the parents in "Spy Kids."
SKYLER SHAYE supports the babies when no one else believes her about their knowledge and mission; she and JUSTIN CHATWIN barely flirt and kiss briefly, but their primary function is to serve Kahuna.
LEO, MYLES, and GERRY FITZGERALD kick and beat down male adults repeatedly and heroically.
MICHAEL and MAX ILES, JORDAN and JARED SCHEIDERMAN, JOSHUA and MAXWELL LOCKHART, and MAIA and KEANA BASTIDAS are resourceful, sometimes cute toddlers, though their plotting and support networking suggests they endure despite adults, rather than with their help.; SCOTT BAIO and VANESSA ANGEL are loving but utterly oblivious parents (they believe the fake videophone transmission from the babies and Kylie), who only at the end don black leather jackets and jeans and help the babies against the villains, like a slow-on-the-uptake version of the parents in "Spy Kids."
SKYLER SHAYE supports the babies when no one else believes her about their knowledge and mission; she and JUSTIN CHATWIN barely flirt and kiss briefly, but their primary function is to serve Kahuna.
LEO, MYLES, and GERRY FITZGERALD kick and beat down male adults repeatedly and heroically.
MICHAEL and MAX ILES, JORDAN and JARED SCHEIDERMAN, JOSHUA and MAXWELL LOCKHART, and MAIA and KEANA BASTIDAS are resourceful, sometimes cute toddlers, though their plotting and support networking suggests they endure despite adults, rather than with their help.; SKYLER SHAYE supports the babies when no one else believes her about their knowledge and mission; she and JUSTIN CHATWIN barely flirt and kiss briefly, but their primary function is to serve Kahuna.
LEO, MYLES, and GERRY FITZGERALD kick and beat down male adults repeatedly and heroically.
MICHAEL and MAX ILES, JORDAN and JARED SCHEIDERMAN, JOSHUA and MAXWELL LOCKHART, and MAIA and KEANA BASTIDAS are resourceful, sometimes cute toddlers, though their plotting and support networking suggests they endure despite adults, rather than with their help.; LEO, MYLES, and GERRY FITZGERALD kick and beat down male adults repeatedly and heroically.
MICHAEL and MAX ILES, JORDAN and JARED SCHEIDERMAN, JOSHUA and MAXWELL LOCKHART, and MAIA and KEANA BASTIDAS are resourceful, sometimes cute toddlers, though their plotting and support networking suggests they endure despite adults, rather than with their help.; MICHAEL and MAX ILES, JORDAN and JARED SCHEIDERMAN, JOSHUA and MAXWELL LOCKHART, and MAIA and KEANA BASTIDAS are resourceful, sometimes cute toddlers, though their plotting and support networking suggests they endure despite adults, rather than with their help.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this comedy that's been rated PG. Juvenile-based, action comedy occurs in various scenes (including crotch contact) as does slapstick style material. Those scenes, other moments and some imitative phrases might be enticing for some kids to imitate and some of them might be unsettling or suspenseful to very young kids.
Some tense family material (and related thematic elements) are present as are some bad attitudes. Brief drinking and smoking also occur. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Captain Kane and Crowe toast one another in East Berlin with shot glasses, then smash the glasses.

BLOOD/GORE: None, but Rosita makes a comment, "You're so full of [fart noise]," and other than babies appearing in clean-looking diapers, there are no other visual references.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Kane/Biscane is a terrible man, eager to exploit children to ensure their parents and siblings will purchase Biscane products.
Learning that Kahuna is back to stop him, Kane collapses, in need of a soda pop, and claims to be "a sick man."
Kahuna, Kylie, and Zack participate in the lie to Archie's parents.
Stan initially calls the daycare babies as "test marketing subjects."

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Depending on a child's age, level of maturity and tolerance for such matters, the following may be somewhat, or not at all suspenseful/scary to them.
When Kahuna saves the children in East Berlin, sirens and a searchlight go off briefly, to indicate the danger they face as they escape.
Biscane's face appears on a website that Archie finds on Stan's computer, with devil horns, red-face makeup, and flames all around him, as his voice repeats, "Money, money, money."
Archie hides under the desk from Crowe and other black-suited crewmembers, and they chase him when they discover he has overheard them talking about their plans.
In a flashback repeated (in slightly different forms) twice, Kahuna is a baby, and during a thunder and lightning storm, a window is smashed, his father's serum tips over and a glowing drop falls into the baby's mouth, and electric charges zap between his hands.
Kahuna's helicopter is zapped out of the sky by Biscane's laser-like weapon, so Kahuna seems to disappear.
Kahuna reappears a couple of scenes later, in chains and surrounded by tall, mean-looking guards.
Kahuna is locked up in a dark, dungeon-like room, inside a cage that appears to have arms, high-tech style; and the room's door slams shut ominously.
The concept of children made into obedient consumers is not new, but Biscane's nasty Nazi affectations (he says he wants to "control the children" a couple of times) make it seem especially nefarious.
A black van (with screeching tires) chases Kylie who is pushing the babies in a stroller, then three thugs get out and close-ups of them suggest their menace, as do close-ups of Kylie looking scared ("What do you want?" she cries, "Leave us alone!").
First entry in Kahuna's lair is dark and spooky; inside, however, it is bright and shiny like an amusement park, or Neverland.
Holograms in the lair include an elephant, a bear, and a lion (the last makes the babies scream).
Kahuna's helicopter is shot out of the air by Biscane's weapon, while the babies and a gathering of adults watch; less frightening than sad and complex, the babies discuss the loss of Kahuna, and how they might carry on without him.
Angry at the babies, Biscane leans into the camera (Archie's point of view) and says, meanly, "Stay out of my way, runt, or else!"
Crowe and Biscane go to their basement headquarters via a pair of fast chutes, and Crowe looks frightened as they descend, very fast.
Biscane's men surround Kahuna in his lair, and Biscane threatens, "You haven't got a snowball's chance."

GUNS/WEAPONS: Guns are carried by Captain Kane's uniformed guards.
A laser gun is used by Kahuna against the villains.
Laser weapon are used by Biscane's men to zap Kahuna's helicopter.
One of the holograms that Kylie finds in Kahuna's lair is a Buckingham Palace guard who carries a rifle.
Kahuna is frisked by Biscane's men, and they toss two large guns on the "comic" pile of gadgets they take off him.
"Love Arrows" are shot by Rosita at the villains' buttocks, which induce them to embrace one another and proclaim their mutual affection.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: Kahuna calls Kane "Prissy pants"; Finkleman's apparent crush on Kylie elicits a one-time refrain of "Finkleman and Kylie sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g"; Rosita says, "You're full of [fart noise]"; "puter geek"; name-calling, such as "brain-baby," at first pejorative, then a super heroic moniker); and "Hasta la vista baby."
Rosita repeatedly declares her inclination to violence: "Who needs that lovey dovey junk?"; "You've got to tough it out on your own"; "I don't have aggression issues, and don't make me pound on you to prove it," to which Finkleman responds, "Okay Mrs. Tyson, don't bite my ear off"; and, Rosita says, "The only thing I like better than being left alone is a good right hook"; "I was hoping I'd finally get to smack somebody."
Kahuna, on roller skates/blades, hooks himself to a truck to make his way to Captain Kane's East Berlin orphanage.
Kahuna (at seven years old) drives a van (with aid of a pedal extension device) and then Archie tries to drive a van, though he is stopped by Stan.
When Kahuna is driving, he backs into a trio of bad guys (their faces slam up and smoosh against the back window), noting, "Caution: Objects in mirror are stupider than they appear."
Babies imitate the elephant hologram they see, making elephant noises and moving their arms like a trunk.
Kylie calls up a hologram who is a Buckingham Palace guard, and she calls him "Ringo" because of his accent.
Kylie tells a soda jerk hologram to "Beat it!" and "Shut up!"
In flashback, one of Kahuna's brother's friends says, "Your brother gives me the creeps. He's a freak."
Whenever he's nervous, the "geek" Finkleman (who really will be brave) says he feels "nauseous" (this occurs twice).
Archie, despondent at one point, says, "I'm just a baby, a whiny, drooling diaper jockey."
Alex steals Stan's van keys, so Archie might drive the babies to stop Biscane (they believe this a point that Kahuna is gone).
When Jean kicks one villain in the crotch, Archie delights at his mother's violence, "Right in the forbidden zone!"
Rosita calls Alex the "booger man."

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A moderate amount of action-oriented and otherwise ominous or suspenseful music occurs in many scenes.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 2 uses of "Oh my God" and an incomplete "Holy..."

SEX/NUDITY: Kylie has a crush on a boy named Brandon, and he's a "jock" who assumes she's just available to tutor him, which embarrasses her and leads to Rosita's aside, "Jerk! I hate jocks!"

SMOKING: Kane lights up a cigarette when he first sees Kahuna, who tells him, "Those things will kill you." Kane notes that Kahuna has a lollipop, and comments, "Those things will give you cavities."

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Kahuna's brother calls him a "freak" and stalks out of his father's laboratory in anger.
Kahuna's father dies as Kahuna sits on his bed and holds his hand.
Archie watches as Kahuna and Kylie lie to his parents about where they are (in Kahuna's lair; they say they're in San Diego with cops looking after them).
Kylie asks Zack if he misses his mother; and he's sad.
Kahuna's brother comes back to torture him -- as Kane and then as Biscane.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Watching children's programming all day is unhealthy.
Living the lonely life of a superhero, without parents, is sad.
Orphans, the value of birth parents and the possibilities of extended families.
Faith in oneself and tolerance of difference.

VIOLENCE: Kahuna's little remote-controlled, go-cart-looking car runs over Kane's security detail in East Berlin, then Kahuna kicks them, hits them, and uses a "Three Stooges"-like move on one (he slaps his head then pokes his eyes with two fingers), sending them all sprawling into vehicles, each other, and the ground.
Kahuna attacks the villains who are chasing Archie in Stan's office, first by crawling on the ceiling, then by kicking them into furniture, so the men leave the room holding their buttocks and wincing.
Crowe yells at Kylie for bumping him (so he loses the disk), and vehemently calls her "Stupid girl!"
A black van (with screeching tires) chases Kylie, pushing the babies in a stroller, then three thugs get out and close-ups suggest their menace.
Kahuna beats up the three guys from the van, kicking them in the face repeatedly, swinging on a pole to kick them, and flipping them over his shoulder, martial arts-style; at one point, in a tangle of bodies, someone's arm is pulled through someone else's crotch; he also kicks them with buckets on his feet, and slams a bucket onto one man's head.
Kahuna backs a van into a trio of bad guys, so their faces smoosh against the back window.
Kahuna's helicopter is zapped out of the air.
Kahuna is chained and put in a cage.
Kahuna's escape elicits another chase scene, as Biscane and his henchmen follow him to his lair.
Kahuna, the babies, Stan and Jean, and Kylie and Zack, all join in to fight off Biscane and his goons: lots of punching, kicking, and bouncing (on Alex, Bouncing Boy's, part) ensues.
Stan punches one villain, steps on one's foot, and is punched by another (which leads to Jean's crotch kick, as she defends him).
When Jean kicks the villain in the crotch, Archie delights at his mother's violence, "Right in the forbidden zone!"
Rosita shoots "Love Arrows" at the villains' buttocks.

Reviewed August 24, 2004 / Posted August 27, 2004

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