Common Sense Media Review
By Grace Montgomery
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Lame animated adventure has violence, some mild profanity.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Tad: The Lost Explorer
What's the Story?
Tad (Kerry Shale) dreams of being a famous archeologist but so far has only managed to dig up junk. When he suddenly gets the chance to impersonate his friend Professor Humbert (Mac McDonald) and travel to the lost city of Paititi with an ancient key, he jumps at the chance. But when he finds the one-handed Kopponen will do whatever it takes to steal the key from him, including kidnapping Professor Lavrof (also Mac McDonald), he'll need the help of the professor's daughter Sarah (Modern Family's Ariel Winter), his guide Freddy (Cheech Marin), and the intrepid bird Capataz to find the lost city before it's too late.
Is It Any Good?
Though it's not outright awful, this lame adventure feels like a low-budget version of a movie we've seen many times before. The action sequences of TAD: THE LOST EXPLORER borrow heavily from Indiana Jones, the bad guy does a bad Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, and the characters are pretty one-dimensional. The film would have benefited by focusing more on plot development and less on showing the bad guys waving guns around, which starts to feel pretty excessive by the end of the movie.
Older, more mature tweens will probably be better off sticking with the Indiana Jones series. And younger, more sensitive tweens might want to find a less violent adventure tale.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the stereotypes in the movie. Which stereotypes did you notice? Did you think they were negative? Why, or why not?
Tad: The Lost Explorer is influenced by the Indiana Jones series. Which scenes borrow elements from those movies? How are they similar?
What's your favorite adventure movie? Why is it your favorite?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : January 14, 2014
- Cast : Cheech Marin , Ariel Winter , Kerry Shale
- Director : Enrique Gato
- Inclusion Information : Latino Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Vivendi
- Genre : Family and Kids
- Topics : Adventures , Animals ( Dogs ) , Friendship , History , STEM ( Nature ) , Travel
- Run time : 92 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 8, 2025
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