K-9 Adventures: Legend of the Lost Gold

I'm always looking for something to watch that's not about smacking folks around or adults making kissy faces and this dog-centric adventure was gentle and mostly focused on the kids and dog. It reminds me of the live-action family entertainment Disney once made.

Filmed on location in Utah, the small town setting and beautiful scenery frame a typical tale of kids solving a mystery. The baddies are caricatures, the kids are formulaic and the dog is cute and well-trained. The mystery is laid out step-by-step so that even younger kids can follow it, and there's nothing in the movie that would offend even the most sensitive grandma.

I found myself wanting more in the series but given that this movie's from 2014, I suspect the kids have grown up and the dog's long-retired. A good watch for the under-10s (and the over 60s!)

This is a sequel to K-9 Adventures: A Christmas Tale (2013). I saw this movie a long time before I saw the original. It's not nearly as good as the original, but it's good enough - particularly for kids. Kassie and crew return to track down a long-lost town treasure - and beat the crims to it. Some adults might find it boring, although I personally don't. Kids will definitely love it. I'd say it's fairly (maybe moderately) good.

My six-year-old liked it, but I suspect children over eight will find it rather slow and tame compared with stuff like "Home Alone" (which I find rather offensive).

Nothing to offend prudish parents here, no violence, bad language or supernatural events. Competent direction and camera-work so it did not look desperately low budget, though there were several sequences of kids walking or bicycling, or of moving cars or trains, which padded out the length to 90 mins without adding content.

The young female lead was fresh and uncloying, but her cohorts were the usual stereotypes (fat boy, boffin, racial minority, etc).

Lame plot, and maybe I dozed off and missed something, but the solution of the "mystery" seemed rather fortuitous.

I give it 5 for children from 6 to 8, or for "old-fashioned" children a little older.