Legend of the Lost Tomb is an Egyptian Mystery for the Whole Family!

I was in the mood for a movie like this, a little drama, a little adventure, a little thrill. So when I read the info of this Hallmark movie On Demand, i just had to check it out.

Minor Plot Details
The movie begins in a dessert near the pyramids of Egypt where some men are digging for artifacts. One of them finds a box and rushes it to the archaeologist, Dr. Leonhardt, who is very excited about the papyrus he finds inside. He takes off on a camel and heads back to civilization. Two kids, John Robie and Karen Lacy, arrive at the airport and are both waiting for Dr. Leonhardt, who hasn't shown yet. John is Dr. L's son and Karen is his new student assistant.

To sum up the point of the movie, Dr. Bent is an ex-friend of Dr. L's and he's very jealous that Dr. L found this papyrus first. So in order to get it from him, Dr. Bent kidnaps Dr L. Now the kids are left with the challenge of finding the dad, but you gotta remember they know nothing of the kidnap. All they find out is that the Papyrus is very valuable. Can these two kids in a strange land find Dr L? Check it out with your family today.

Actors
Stacy Keach .... Dr. William Bent is a scary man... especially when he wears that all white suit and hat! Stacy now stars as the Warden on Prison Break, so you can see how he could be scary. He's out to find this papyrus that he's been looking for his whole career, and he doesn't care who he hurts along the way. This leaves John and Karen in a very bad position. Can they find Dr. L before Dr. Bent catches up with them??

Hamdy Heykal .... Scorpian is a nutso! He is Dr. Bent's assistant/assassin and he's willing to kill at the drop of a hat! or at the drop of a deadly scorpion. He's wild and crazy to the point of being a little cheesy in the role, but I think kids would enjoy his character as he's kind of a funny villain.

Brock Pierce .... John Robie is a teen kid who could care less about being in Egypt. He's not there to learn, he's there to see his dad and that's it. But as you can guess, him and Karen end up working together to find his father. Brock is best recognized from his role in the Mighty Ducks movies. He has mostly very simple lines and doesn't do too much, so I can certainly see why he doesn't have any movies past 1997. He was alright in this role, but I can't see him in a real movie.

Kimberlee Peterson .... Karen Lacy is a smarty pants who won the honor of working with Dr L in Cairo. She's supposed to be 17 but appeared younger to me. She moves the plot along because she is very smart and knows everything about Egypt. Her knowledge will help them along the way. Kimberlee has been quite busy and appeared in a few TV shows and movies since this movie, which sounds about right since she was very good in the part.

Khaled El Sawy .... Salaam is a cab driver who's been asked to keep watch over the kids but we don't really know why. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? He seems kind of shady! but he's also kind of funny! So you'll just have to wait and see what he's up to.

My thoughts
I thought this movie was fun and adventurous enough for a family to watch. You get to see Egypt and things are explained in a child-friendly way so that you and your kids can learn about Egypt and the people. What makes the movie great for kids is that there are two young kids trying to figure out the mystery in this papyrus and save their father. However, I wouldn't let anyone under 15 watch because there are some scary parts.

A secondary plot of the movie is how Karen will teach John to enjoy exploring Egypt and learning new things. The boy was lazy when the movie started, but this whole adventure is going to spark his active side. Can John teach Karen something too??? He might be able to teach her not to be such a smarty pants all the time. These two very different teens must work together if they want to get anywhere, and that means they'll definitely learn something along the way.

As mentioned, the movie is great for kids, but even as an adult I can give it 4 stars. It was a simple plot, but the Egyptian stories were complicated enough to keep me interested. Although Brock mostly seemed to have short lines such as "What's that", "What did he do" and "Where are we going", he got better as the movie progressed and the rest of the cast was pretty good at their parts. They used a lot of real Egyptians, at least I assume they are real Egyptians based on their real names. The scenery seems to be authentically Egypt as well. As a TV movie, this was enjoyable and different. Sure, it's not "The Mummy", but for kids and families it gives you a piece of Egypt you wouldn't have seen otherwise. It's short at only 92 minutes so I was able to get through the whole thing before my favorite 8pm shows started.

So if you or your kids have any sort of interest in Egypt or ancient legends, check out the Legend of the Lost Tomb today! Enjoy!