Cautionary tale.

SHORTS (PG, 88 MINS) 5/10

FOLLOWING a foray into sci-fi horror with Planet Terror, his contribution to the ill-fated Grindhouse double-bill, writer-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, bolted together as chronologically-fractured chapters.

Leaping back and forth in time only accentuates the haphazard nature of the entire enterprise, while Rodriguez and co-editor Ethan Maniquis cut the film together at a furious pace that is likely to cause retina and brain-ache in older viewers.

The visual and aural bombardment is relentless, culminating at one point in father and son battling against a giant bogey.

"All those years you told me not to eat my boogers," rues the boy, finally acknowledging the wise words of his old man.

"Yes, now your booger's trying to eat you!" replies his distressed dad.

If Rodriguez's film discourages one tyke from picking their nose, perhaps the high-speed hijinks will serve a purpose.

Shorts encourages its young audience to dream responsibly: "Be sure you're wishing for something worth wishing 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.

CAPTION(S):

* YUCK: Jimmy Bennett as Toe Thompson in Shorts