An American film with a title like Spy Kids 2 can only be predictable. No wonder then, after Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Harrison Ford have gallantly saved the world, we now have a couple of kids armed with hi-tech futuristic gadgets attempting a 'we too'.

The only saving grace seems to be the tagline, The Island Of Lost Dreams. It promises adventure and we assume these super kids will enjoy exploring a new land.

In the previous edition of Spy Kids, Carmen and Juni Cortez (Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara) rescue their kidnapped secret agent parents, Gregorio (Antonio Banderas) and Ingrid Cortez (Carla Gugino).

Producer-director Robert Rodriguez (he is also the film's writer, cinematographer, editor and music composer) is back with a sequel that opens in an ultramodern theme park packed with scary rides. Carmen and Juni arrive just in time to prevent the president's daughter from taking a fatal fall. But a couple of rival spy kids, Gary and Gerti Giggles (Matt O'Leary and Emily Osment), grab the credit and are promoted in OSS, the spy organisation.

Donnagon Giggles (Mike Judge), their scheming father, deviously prevents Gregorio from becoming OSS head. But when a bunch of vicious men steal the highly sensitive 'transmooker device' (whatever that is), the Cortez kids take it upon themselves to get it back (and thereby save the planet!).

Their adventure begins in an underwater sub that looks like a dragonfly and is stuffed with state-of-the-art electronic gadgets, including a junk food dispenser.

As they approach the mysterious island where they believe the device has been hidden, their sub shuts down and their gadgets switch off automatically. They are now totally on their own.

The story, it seems, is finally taking an interesting turn.

Sadly, Rodriguez is as lost as the kids are on this strange island. Beyond the mystery of a mad scientist who has unwittingly crossbred various animals to create intimidating new species  -- flying pigs, catfish made of a cat and a fish; bullfrogs that are half frog-half bull; spider monkeys that are, well, half spider-half monkey -- there is very little excitement generated by the kids' adventure on this island.

The Giggles siblings follow close on their heels and the two sets of rivals include some pretty juvenile exchanges in their game of one-upmanship. As a result, there is hardly any time to actually explore the mysterious island.

Gregorio and Ingrid set off in search of their kids in their fake-looking, hi-tech ship. There is an underwater reunion with Ingrid's parents (whom Gregorio is not particularly fond of), though which good old American family values are artificially injected into the movie.

Banderas and Gugino are passable in their almost peripheral roles; the two kid stars (Vega in particular) come up with a few entertaining moments.

Beyond that, there is hardly anything to recommend in this hotchpotch of ideas. It is safer to sit at home and dig into old Enid Blytons for authentic children's adventure stories, where kids are kids and the world is a wonderfully adventurous place.