Tad The Lost Explorer And The Secret Of King Midas review

Tipping its fedora to the Indiana Jones films, this fast-moving piece of Spanish animation – the second in a series, but the first to get a cinema release in the UK – is an exciting if occasionally slightly scary thrillride for kids of all ages.

The plot has Tad, a construction worker by day but an amateur archaeologist by night, hunting the component parts of a collar that gave Midas his magic touch  – Midas, of course, being the mythical king whose touch turned everything to gold, ultimately with tragic consequences.

Tad is helped in his hunt by the almost inevitable cock-eyed dog, by an angry bird that looks very much like an Angry Bird, and by a fast-talking, camp and comedy-interest Peruvian mummy with a penchant for dressing up in women’s clothes (a character that made his debut in the original movie).

The action involves Tad’s travelling to various exotic locales in search of the collar bits, all the while being chased by a bunch of gun-toting baddies who want to get their hands on them and their golden touch too. Caught up in all this is cute professional archaeologist Sarah, Tad’s love interest. Inevitably, she falls into the baddies’ clutches, and it’s ‘Indiana’ Tad to the rescue. But will he reach her before she falls victim to a golden touch too?

The movie is decently CG-animated, and rattles along, with enough exciting chase sequences to keep entertained even the most easily distracted little ones, and enough comedy moments to provide them some welcome light relief. In a world of wonders from the likes of Pixar and Disney,  it’s maybe not different nor original enough to quite constitute a first choice for school-holiday or wet-day viewing. But it comes a close second.