The film's special effects were a major achievement at the time of its release, with the creation of the giant Nick Szalinski being a particularly complex process. The film's director, Charles Shyer, worked closely with the special effects team to ensure that the giant scenes were both convincing and humorous.
While showing off his invention to his boss, Dr. Charles Hendrickson, things go predictably awry. Wayne’s two-year-old son, Adam (played by twins Daniel and Joshua Shalicar), waddles into the lab just as the enlarging ray misfires. The toddler is zapped.
Yet, Blew Up the Kid remains the most purely fun entry of the trilogy. It is the Empire Strikes Back of giant baby movies—if Empire had a scene where a toddler drinks an entire lake of soda and burps so loud it shatters glass.
The film picks up years after the first. The Szalinski family has moved from suburban California to the neon-lit desert of Las Vegas, Nevada. Wayne (Rick Moranis) now works for a high-tech research laboratory called Sterling Labs, where he has perfected his electromagnetic "Enlarging Ray."
At the center of the chaos is the late, great Rick Moranis. In an era of over-the-top action heroes, Moranis played Wayne Szalinski as a frazzled, genuine nerd who loves his family more than his science. Unlike many comedy sequels where the protagonist becomes a caricature of themselves, Moranis keeps Wayne grounded.
Over the next 12 hours, strange things happen. Adam breaks his high chair. Then he cracks the tiled floor. By dawn, he has outgrown his crib. By noon, he punches a hole through the living room ceiling. Wayne realizes with horror: the ray has a delayed, exponential effect. Every time Adam experiences a strong emotion—hunger, excitement, fear—he grows.
