DIRECTOR Robert Rodriguez returns to more family-friendly fare with a colour-saturated adventure reminiscent of his Spy Kids films.

Short and moderately sweet, this fast-moving romp understands that its target youth audience has a limited attention span – thus Rodriguez unleashes a blitzkrieg of digital effects, slapstick and explosions Toe is a regular kid who lives in Black Falls with his family. He is bullied mercilessly at school by Helvetica Black and her older brother, Cole.

By chance, Toe discovers a rainbow-coloured rock and unleashes its hidden power: to grant the holder his or her every wish.

However, the boy soon learns that you don’t always get what you wish for – a gargantuan robot, an army of walking crocodiles and a marauding snot monster.

Beneath all of the bells and whistles, Shorts is a cautionary tale about being careful what you wish for. Most of the characters learn this valuable lesson the hard way, like Toe’s feuding parents (Jon Cryer, Leslie Mann), who mutter, “I just wish we were closer”, and end up fused together as a strange half-man, half-woman.

Shorts encourages its young audience to dream responsibly: “Be sure you’re wishing for something worth wishing for.”

SHORTS (Cert. PG, 88 mins)
Stars: Jimmy Bennett, Jolie Vanier, Devon Gearhart, James Spader, Jake Short, William H Macy, Trevor Gagnon, Rebel Rodriguez, Leo Howard, Leslie Mann, Jon Cryer, Cambell Westmoreland, Zoe Webb
Directed by Robert Rodriguez.