`Star Kid' Has Few Bright Moments

Movie review XX "Star Kid," with Joseph Mazzello, Joey Simmrin, Richard Gilliland. Written and directed by Manny Coto. 101 minutes. Several theaters. "PG" - Parental guidance advised because of combat violence and mild profanity.

Writer-director Manny Coto (the sadist who brought us "Dr. Giggles") did two smart things when he made the children's action film "The Warrior of Waverly Street." The first had to do with casting (which we'll get to), and the second was to allow that awful title to be changed to the more youth-friendly "Star Kid."

Joseph Mazzello plays Spence, the titular teen hero who discovers a cyberbionic space suit in a junk yard. The silver prototype armor is a product of the Trelkins, a dwarf-like alien race with Koosh balls sticking out of their faces. The space suit is their last-ditch defensive weapon against the Broodwarriors, a vicious lizard race taking over the galaxy.

The Trelkins jettison their creation into space to prevent its capture by the Broodwarriors, and the retro rocket (there's a nifty old "Buck Rogers" serial feel to the sci-fi production design) carrying the suit just happens to land on Earth.

Spence climbs into the suit and meets Cy, the computer brain that runs the complex cyber-weapon. Cy explains to Spence that a Broodwarrior has followed, looking to capture Cy. Spence must help Cy defeat the Broodwarrior or the entire galaxy is doomed.

Besides looming galactic peril, Spence has his own teenage problems. His mother died two years prior, he's the new kid in town, his father (Richard Gilliland) is too busy with his new job and the school bully, Turbo (Joey Simmrin), wants to beat him up.

Spence is also smitten with Michelle (Lauren Eckstrom), a fellow seventh-grader who's not only cute, she likes comic books, too (the seventh-grade equivalent of a dream girl).

Which brings us to the other smart thing Coto did: hiring Joseph Mazzello. If Mazzello's name looks familiar it's because he starred as the little boy in "Jurassic Park" and as the son of Debra Winger in "Shadowlands." It's a long way from C.S. Lewis to cybersuits, but Mazzello is still a welcome presence. He's given the task of carrying the picture and, gosh darn it, the kid's got pluck. A scene where Cy shows Spence a captured mental image of his dead mother is the only actual emotional moment in the film, and it's courtesy of this young actor.

The rest of "Star Kid," however, runs, jumps and kicks along on an overdosed sugar high. Every time Cy's abilities are called into play, the action on screen bounces around wildly; it seems as if writer/director Manny Coto never met a camera he didn't tilt. You might need a motion-sickness pill to watch all the twirling, slumping and rotating that this film puts you through.

"Star Kid" is generally family friendly, although Cy confuses Spence's interest in Michelle as a mating ritual that may lead to some "birds and bees" explanations later. It's the only matter that requires further thought; the rest of the film is as simplistic and stunted as its title.