Tad: The Lost Explorer (2012) User Reviews

A great family movie, I hope more people watch it!

[albertopsg · 7/10 · 26 February 2013]

This was an unexpected experience for me. I went to watch it with my older sister because of 2 reasons: 1. When I was a kid, my biggest dream was to become an archaeologist; 2. We watched a small interview of one of the movie's creators on TV, and he had so much heart for the movie that we could see it in his eyes and listen in his words.

Needless to say (due to the 10/10 score above) that the movie blew me away. Was this the best animated movie I've ever seen? No, there are some with deeper or more original stories. But for sure it is one of my favorites!

The story is great, not much original, but funny and with many references. The peruvian theme is a great choice, their culture is incredibly rich, with many myths (such as Paititi) and legacies like Machu Picchu. The characters are very likable, our 3 leads and their pets are funny, smart and kind-hearted.

I believe that, if this movie excelled in anything, was in lighting once again that adventurous spark in me, making me believe that I can take on many adventures in my life and explore the world. A movie like this is exactly what I (and any child out there) needed to regain my hope, imagination and braveness.

Although predictable and somewhat a parody, this movie has a plot to hold a child's attention.

[harold-sink · 5/10 · 27 January 2013]

It has been a while since I saw the trailer for this movie. I finally watched this with a slight hesitation. It was okay, but I was really getting tired of quips and parodies of other animated movies within this one.

I am one of those people who likes a good turn in story line without stealing a whole lot from previous ones. Granted original stories are becoming few and far between, but this one seemed to drag as you see other tidbits emerge from movies such as Wallace and Gromit, The Pirates, Indiana Jones, etc. Believe me, I wasn't looking for this type of thing, it jumped out at me as if it were shouting, "Oh, look! I'm not all that original!"

Young Tad starts off with a dream to become an archaeologist. You don't know exactly why, he just does. The movie doesn't go all that in depth about it at all. He grows up and still daydreams for something he never really works toward, but still hopeful. His 'friend' who is an archaeologist becomes his gateway into his dream. He meets a dream girl, her father is the leading archaeologist in the world only to be topped by her future husband who has star qualities, thus also the mole/bad guy. I didn't have to read reviews to know how this movie would turn out.

Unfortunately for me, I had to keep waiting for the movie to keep loading on my computer, and all the signs in the movie were in Russian, yet the credits were in English. Oddly enough, the entire movie was made by Spanish speaking people who spoke English in the movie. Yeah, it was a bit messed up for my viewing pleasure. Anyway, I didn't get the full jest of many of the jokes because I cannot read Russian.

As much as I saw through most of this predictable yet stylish story line, about the only parts that impressed me were a few unexpected twists which I thought would happen much sooner than later or vice versa. Other movie parodies are popping into my head as I write this. The animation was not as fluid as I thought it would be, which means the frames per second were lower than normal. I could go on, but I think I've typed enough at this point. Oh, and there are some really great scenes every once and a while through out the movie.

Give it a shot before writing it off.

[Shopaholic35 · 6/10 · 10 February 2014]

Tad, The Lost Explorer is a great little animated film that reminds me of a child's version of Indiana Jones. It's really quite charming and I was impressed with the substance of the film. You had your generic cartoon characters but then there were the animated characters with depth and personalities. The animation was quite good I believe and the colours were rich and appealing.

It may follow the typical, no surprise structure that many animated movies follow but that does not matter. It is enjoyable nonetheless and who doesn't enjoy watching a predicable yet endearing movie every now and then.

I loved it

[alex-1250 · 22 January 2013]

I must say I expected a sub-Pixar animated feature,but Tad has surprised me on so many levels that I actually rated it higher than the recent Disney/Pixar films.

the characters are well developed and animated superbly,but I was particularly impressed by the set designs,although the whole production has been done with so much imagination and artistic flair...it's true that it's a cartoon-y take on I.Jones/TombRaider theme but the attention to detail in every shot is simply staggering,and on top of it all it is a very cute looking movie.

It'll take a second viewing to process all the details I must have missed the first time,as it's really fast-paced.

The exciting adventure never stop!

[MK_Movie_Reviews · 7/10 · 22 August 2021]

It was so much exciting adventure activities.

Tad wants to be a famous archaeologist. And he met a cute girl who is the professor's daughter.

All of the characters in this movie are charming and attractive.

I will watch again this movie for sure!

Cute Movie For Kids

[ricardopadilla-38026 · 7/10 · 20 April 2020]

It's was cute movie. Had a lot of laughs. Some content had adult themes but overall it's a movie with a lot of laughs and good animation.

Very good Spanish animation

[apararas · 7/10 · 16 March 2020]

And funny too.Tad is a worker who wants to become ana archaeologist.Nice characters a good villain with an iron hand,a sexy female named Sarah and a funny mummy.Good musical score as well and here's a film for the whole family.

Predictable and sexist

[poliwhirl-213-266201 · 2/10 · 9 September 2012]

I was dragged along to see this film with other parents and kids and really hated it, and definitely regretted spending my money on it.

On the positive side, some of the scenes are very pretty and colourful, and I suppose well made, although I must say I don't know the first thing about film-making.

My main objection to the film, apart from how boring and predictable it is (you only need to watch the first 10 minutes to guess the rest), is how the female character and male characters are portrayed.

On one hand the female protagonist, Sara, looks like an inflatable sex doll: the pouting collagen lips, and the boobs half hanging out in every shot. They even carefully and lovingly draw in the line of her buttocks in every possible scene.

I have nothing against the illustrator drawing in his fantasy female. BUT if you take a look at all the other characters (and except for an elderly woman receptionist, all the other characters are men), all of them are drawn as caricatures: enormous noses, completely out of proportion chins, larger than life muscles, etc. However, no male sexual attributes at all: no bulges in the trousers or even anything remotely attractive about them.

I know that sexism exists in real life and that for a woman it's still considered advantageous to look as sexy and attractive as possible, but do we really have to perpetuate this and teach it to our kids as acceptable? Is that the message of the film: middle-aged ugly, big-jowled unshaven uneducated building site worker gets off with the sex bomb? Just to give it some perspective for people who think this is OK: imagine the roles reversed: older ugly cleaning lady gets together with charming Adonis with large bulge in trousers, because he can see her "inner beauty". I would love to see that at the cinema. :P

I felt embarrassed for my 7 y.o. daughter while watching it. Some of us parents spend a lot of time trying to teach our daughters that they don't need to look like porn actresses to be loved or to succeed in life, and then along comes the film industry...

For me the film could have been quite OK (from a kids' point of view), just by using more graphically-credible or realistic characters.

Slightly Below Average

[weiszed · 4/10 · 20 January 2013]

On an absolute scale with 5/10 being an average film, I scored this film a 4.

The animation is pretty good, but let's face it, as technology improves, this really isn't a selling point anymore, it's expected. While this is obviously meant to be a children's film, the plot is mind numbingly shallow (not simple, but shallow), and adults will probably be checking their watches for the duration of the film.

We are introduced to a childhood Tad, who despite his inherent love for archaeology, seemingly doesn't even attempt to pursue his dream and becomes a bricklayer instead. Still playing make believe on the job, Tad gets fired (for the 7th time) and through a sequence of forced and uncomfortable events, becomes swept up in a search for a lost Incan city of treasure. Along the way he picks up several sidekicks, but overall nobody on the expedition really seems to belong there apart from the pirates attempting to steal the treasure for themselves.

We are given a stereotypical, lazy Hispanic guide that constantly lies about his family and is always trying to make a buck, a love interest that just wants to find her father, and Tad whose background makes him no more qualified to go on a treasure expedition than you or I. Towards the end, the message of the film seems to be that you don't have to be rich and successful to be happy, but the filmmakers missed a great opportunity to drive this home. They could have shown Tad's dream of becoming an archaeologist ruined by poor grades, lack of money, or needing to take care of a sick relative. He could have been constantly reciting geographical facts about South America, because even though he never achieved his dream, he still gave it is best by reading books in the library, watched the Discovery channel, etc. But no, instead we're given the man-child Tad that just hops on a plane and follows the linear adventure to the end of the road.

Overall, it's a decent kid's movie, but the funnies are few and far between. The plot continues to smash square pegs into round holes for forward motion, and anyone over 13 will most likely be bored. If you're deciding between this movie and something else, do yourself a favor and pick something else.

Fun family movie!

[yotrent-480-139701 · 9/10 · 19 September 2012]

I happened to see Tad The Lost Explorer with some Spanish friends and their children in Madrid a couple of weeks ago - I'm not sure if it's out yet in the U.S.? Anyway - found it to be a very fun ride. Sort of an homage to Indiana Jones, but very sweet. Actually had much more heart than I expected. ANd some great action sequences - the kids I saw it with loved every second! I was actually looking up the film on IMDb to see who made it and when I saw the first review I was really surprised to see a negative review. I'll admit that animated movies usually aren't my thing, but I really thought the characters and story were great.

Unoriginal with lame characters

[ejbunga · 3/10 · 16 May 2014]

The plot is a decent adventure but totally reminds me of a cross between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Romancing the Stone. It totally fell short for me with lame characters and honestly, didn't produce many laughs for my 8-year old. I think she thought the animals were the funniest characters and they were pretty minor ones at that. I was turned-off by the negative image of Freddie, the Latino sidekick, portrayed as lazy, into soap operas, & only doing favors for money. Then the female lead, Sara, has a voice of a child and an unfeasible curvaceous body. If the body her creators gave her isn't odd enough, then they decide that her "adventure clothes" should be a super tight tank top with ample cleavage hanging out throughout the film, short shorts showing a J-Lo round bottom, and her movements are consistently over-dramatized feminine (hand on hips, swaying hips while walking). It's actually a bit laughable because she's so ridiculously un-real, boring and sadly, sends a wrong message to boys and girls alike. Tad's character is also a strange creation. The film starts with him as a 5-year old boy very interested archeology, dreaming to become an archaeologist, then...(?) flash-forwards to him as a bumbling bricklayer - nothing wrong with this but there's a huge gap with this transition and not sure what it says to kids.

For my 8-year old daughter, the action scenes and surprises were a notch-up from most films we see (a couple of instances where she hid her eyes). On the other hand, I think she was grateful for a "bigger kid" movie than what we are used to seeing. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this or choose it again. Surely, we can make better films for children in the 8-12 age range and in the meantime, you can find a better film to watch than this one.

sexist terrible for children

[hnelsen · 1/10 · 28 March 2014]

This was a new movie on Netflix and my daughter wanted to check it out. I was very disappointed in how sexualized the female character is in this. She looks like a Bratz doll in a super low cut tank top. It was completely distracting and really unnecessary. The main male character was normal looking completely devoid of washboard abs and chiseled features, because male character don't have to be sexy, but the female ones do apparently. Oh, and there are only like two female characters in the whole movie, the sexy one and a secretary. I think this movie sends a harmful message to kids about the role men and women. I'm honestly wondering how something this sexist was produced and created in 2014.

Inappropriate

[matthewswaggerty · 1/10 · 1 September 2018]

I found it inappropriate for kids. What appeared like demons were chasing the character. The female character had a tight tank top with her boobs half out. There is another picture shown of what appears like an Asian stripper. Another character says "I don't care what the hell he is"

It's very sad that these creators have to put this garbage into kids movies.

Very amusing and funny computer generator movie compellingly realized in magnificent visual style

[ma-cortes · 8/10 · 7 August 2013]

Fun as well as brilliant animated piece that has the rare quality of appealing both to youngsters and adults but on different levels . This wonderful film is plenty of fantasy , adventures, spectacular feats and breathtaking scenarios from Peru and Inca Temples . The picture is narrated with imagination and sense of wonder and turns out to be very entertaining , as is apt for small kids but no contains graphic violence , neither profanity . Tadeo (Spanish voice by Barberan) is a Chicago building worker who has aspirations to be a famous archaeologist and adventurer just like his hero Max Mordon . One day, however, he is mistaken for an authentic Professor and takes his place on a flight to Peru in search of the Lost City of Incas . Professor Lavrof and his gorgeous daughter Sara (voice by Michelle Jenner of Isabel) are waiting for the prestigious professor to crack the code . Unfortunately for Tad, Sara is engaged to real-life hero Max Mordon , but shady Max has secretly treasoned to Lavrof and Sara by teaming up with the nasty Kopponen (voice of Miguel Angel Jenner) and his evil Odysseus Inc (a real enterprise which carries out search for treasures) . As soon as they arrive in Peru ,they go to city of Cusco and subsequently the historical town of Machu Pichu . They flee by balloon and discover an Inca Temple . Tadeo along with his dog , a parrot , Sara and a likable Peruvian called Freddy (the notorious comical player Jose Mota) take on several dangers , risks and adventures .

Tadeo , the construction worker , began like a parody of Indiana Jones, but after screenplay began to develop its own personality and became a visual comic . This is a high quality film plenty of adventures, fun situations , humor with tongue in cheek , fantasy and results to be extremely amusing . Tadeo character is a blending between known Indiana Jones and a popular hero from Spanish comic books called ¨Super Lopez¨ . Sensational and fantastic tale, it's a masterpiece computer generator movie , a great animation with enjoyable screenplay and funny happenings . One of a kind, if you enjoy interesting stories and have a soft spot for attractive characters and well planed scenarios, you are in for a great one . Excellent production , lavish and colorfully realized similarly to a Hollywood product . This is the long running to sympathetic character previously appeared in the short films titled "Tadeo Jones" (2004) and its sequel "Tadeo Jones and the basement of doom" , all of them won more than 25 national and international prizes, including the Goya Award for Best Spanish animation film . This ¨Adventures of Tadeo Jones¨ or "Tad, the Lost Explorer" is a big step ahead in production quality when compare to its predecessors . This stunning film with appropriate runtime , converted the first of any kind to gross over the box office in Spain and around the world . The motion picture was splendidly realized by Enrique Gato who is preparing a follow-up . Rating : Better that average , worthwhile watching ; advisable to see for children and adults who appeal the splendid C.G. drawings .

"Tad, the Lost: The Search for Something Something...."

[Kamurai25 · 4/10 · 18 July 2020]

Rough watch, probably won't watch again, and can't confidently recommend, unless it's for younger audiences...and even then, probably no.

This movie feels like a first attempt. Tad is actually a charming underdog character, Sarah plays well as an attraction for the lead and an independently grown character which shows so much intricacy from a writing perspective that the rest of the non-animal characters are baffling.

There is just so little here to work with that I don't have a lot to say. The train action sequence was actually decent, but I was wasn't engaged with the movie for the majority of the time.

I think this is better skipped, but if you actually like this, then there is a sequel that is slightly better.

Questionable

[harrietotomi · 5/10 · 29 May 2020]

Although the storyline was enjoyed by my sons, I was disturbed by the stereotyping of some of the characters. Seemed a bit racist. Also, the female character is overly sexualized.

Cliché, dull movie.

[pinkiep · 3/10 · 29 June 2015]

This movie is very cliché. The movie is very predictable like the protagonist saves the day and gets the girl. The quality is OK, it's not at all great but it's not bad either. They're many stereotypes in the movie, such as the Peruvian trying to make money, the photos that the Peruvian showed saying that is his "family" was racist. He showed of one of Africans with very huge lips which is a racist stereotype. Something that bothered me was the fact that during whole movie only three females spoke. The female protagonist was sexualized. I get it that the main protagonist needs a love interest but they didn't have to sexualize her and make her beautiful compared from the other females, they could've just made the girl look a little nerdy since she likes history. It was very dull I didn't find it entertaining and everything was predictable. I don't recommend this movie at all.

an unexpected brilliance !!

[said_mohmed33 · 8/10 · 24 February 2013]

when i saw the poster of that movie i said to myself "oh , it's another predictable movie , just like journey to the mysterious island " but when i got to see it with one of my friends i found it pretty good ! full of pure humor , exciting pursuits and some suspense .. the thing i loved most in this movie was the pure Inca spirit and Peruvian civilization content , the mute bird was a really clever comic addition to this movie along with the Momia as well .. in the technical and artistic side this movie is very good , full of colorful landscapes and accurate detailing even in the smallest surfaces , objects and big buildings , a great family show ,highly recommended

The animation is OK, apart from the dubbing.

[Ckn48 · 5/10 · 10 September 2022]

A live action foreign movie is too difficult to refilm but I have great admiration for a good dubbing job. Not only is the dubbing of this movie sloppy, but reanimating is eminently possible & easy enough to do, especial when they are trying to sell to a foreign market like the english speaking market. Therefore the dubbing is eminently sloppy.

Subsequently my little boy then asks impossible questions about a questionable plot.

Holding magic stones to control an exo suit is one thing, but somehow the hands on the exo suit are able to open, close and grab... it makes no sense.

So as a Dad im stuck trying to explain that cartoons lie, all the time.

The Plot is Full of holes The Script is ok The sound is ok The CGI & Dubbing is sloppy The Acting is ok

Not a keeper

Its OK for kids 👍

Clichè and forgettable!

[gporcelli-41235 · 5/10 · 19 June 2018]

I have not much to say about this movie. Tad the lost explorer is a very clichè and unoriginal movie. It apes every single adventure movie (mostly Indiana Jones). The story is boring and forgettable. The main protagonist (Tad) is pathetic, goofy and forgettable (his sidekick, Sara is a good Lara Croft clone). Graphic is ok (but some texture are very ugly, just like the jaguar scene), the movie has some very interesting visuals, but there are just few of them. The movie is occasionaly violent and the ending is predictable. Overall the movie isn't terrible, just mediocre and forgettable. Spain tries to ape Disney Pixar but it has a lot to learn. By the way, I'm not going to watch the sequel.

Final score 5/10 (mediocre). If you want to enjoy "Tad the lost explorer" I strongly reccomend to watch it without too many expectations.

Sexist and predictable.

[amber-dragon · 1/10 · 26 June 2014]

Honestly I was avoiding this movie and for good reason. the cover shows about 6 males and 1 female... (already a bad sign...) in all I counted 3 females in the whole film that had something to say.. very distracting from the predictable story of guy goes on adventure meets girl does amazing stuff has a male super villain saves the day bla bla. It's a horrible way to portray a female. Honestly this is not a good film for children. I wish I could have enjoyed the film a little more and where it not for the amazing scenery I would have just put the film down. the girl though does have a bit of intelligence but looks like a sexualized object for male eye candy.

Great family fun

[timber0001 · 9/10 · 28 December 2012]

It was a very nice surprise to see how Tad contained all the required ingredients for such a film and furthermore a good story and a great technical quality... to be honest I wasn't expecting that much! I began watching it thinking of it as a «minor» but found it was much better than some material released by the big studios. The main characters are well defined and fun, like the different situations throughout the story. In the technical and artistic side, the love and care put in this production can be seen everywhere, from colorful landscapes to the smallest details in textures, surfaces, objects, building designs, etc. Anyway, maybe the most important thing is not how much I liked this movie but the fact that I watched it with my 4-year-old niece and she absolutely enjoyed it as much as I did. After watching this Tad The Lost Explorer, I can only wish they'll be making Tad II. Whether you have children around or you appreciate nice movies for all public, you should not miss this one.

Could have been better.

[discovertoday2 · 1/10 · 5 May 2020]

The movie was a great idea, but there was no need for the over-the-top gender stereotypes for such a young audience. It was unnecessary for the plot and added nothing to the movie as a whole.

Kids loved it!

[hellagood_fla · 5/10 · 25 May 2018]

Put this on Netflix & kids were entranced!! I have no clue what it is about, but I was able to get stuff done!! So kudos to the film company for keeping my kids entertained!!

Predictable but great for a family

[ashleighabsurd · 5/10 · 11 January 2019]

I thought that this movie would be perfect for people who are looking for an adventure movie that they can watch with children. This movie was really predictable and did bore me at points but I feel that a younger demographic would really like this. Also I like the message of never giving up on your dreams which is throughout this movie.