Ten years after the first film and probably as much a surprise to the film makers as anyone else we now have a third film with Tad the Explorer and the curse of the Mummy. A kind of kid friendly Indiana Jones (and there are several nods to Raiders if the Lost Ark in this one) it sees him at a Mayan archaeological dig headed up by a young trio of fame hungry archaeologists trying to help them resurrect and publicize weather beaten old relics from the past in much the same way as Lulu’s manager. Inevitably for Tad it goes awry leaving a trail of carnage behind him. But with the team managing to salvage a rare sarcophagus it’s Tad who along with his troublesome sidekicks Mummy the mummy, Jeff the dog and Belzani the bird invoke a curse but with the help of fellow explorer Sara they travel the world as they attempt to lift the curse.
So along the way they find themselves pursued by a pair of battling cops – one the usual gung-ho arrogant FBI fed and the other a female Mexican cop resigned to his incompetence. Add to this another reawakened female (yummy) Mummy who joins Tad who has further trouble with Jeff & Belzoni which the curse has turned into a hybrid, part bird – part dog that it’s a wonder it’s not renamed Katie Price. Tad’s friend, Mummy from the previous film has also been impacted with the curse frequently morphing into some sort of flying crocodile usually at inopportune moments ( although in one of many nods to other films there’s a moment lifted from schlock horror creature feature, ‘Alligator’) and it all builds to the expected explosive climax
There’s a huge cast of characters here probably too many for a film aimed at younger children and the plot is likely to be a little confusing for such an audience but there’s plenty of hyperactive set pieces to distract in what is a bright breezy late summer kids film.
Watch the Tad the Explorer and the curse of the Mummy trailer HERE
