Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy

No doubt that producers saw a series of these Mickey Matson films and another was made and another may be planned if there's public demand for same. But the McGuffin of this film, an alchemy machine is really a bit much. Only the littlest kids are going to swallow this one.

Young Derek Brandon is an appealing young title character who lives in a really rural part of Michigan and as it opens we discover he's at the funeral of his grandfather Christopher Lloyd. Lloyd left him a rock which turns out to be the key to treasure. An unlimited treasure as it turns out because there was something to those medieval and ancient tales of alchemy where base matter can be turned into precious metal.

There's also a secret society of people named after northern sympathizers to the Confederate cause, the Copperheads. They want that alchemy thing. Just think of the havoc it would reek on the economy of those damn Yankees.

Brandon as I said is appealing as is his female sidekick Francesca DeRosa who is visiting her grandmother Patrika Darbo. But the story was just way too outrageous. For the little kids only.

Another family movie, that tries to be a kid "Indiana Jones". It starts out with a really strange pace, that pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the movie, along with EVERY Cliché EVER TO BE IN A FAMILY MOVIE. Dead grandparent leaves map behind, Kid gets picked on by annoying bullies who play video games. It's all there. The clichés are definitely the main issue in the movie. By half way even the 6yr old was guessing what would happen next and was (no surprise) correct. This led to an extremely boring and predictable film. The only plot twist is at the literal VERY END. But it doesn't even really make sense, a lot like the entire movie.

The only goodish part is the writing, which can be clever at times, but the acting seriously lets it down.

Excellent movie!! Great casting and acting, the cinematography was very well done. I highly recommend this to anyone with children who have a sense of adventure! It also has a very meaningful message and unfortunately most kids movies today miss that important quality. This writer really "gets it", when it comes to quality films for young adults. He helps show them that morals are important and that getting outside and exploring what nature has to offer is very exciting! My nephews loved it, (they range in age for 8-13), they asked me if I could set up a treasure hunt for them outside in the woods so they could explore. Thank you for helping me show them there is more to life then video games and for also helping me remember what it was like to be that age again. We all look forward to the sequel!

This film was so much fun to watch with our kids. Everyone enjoyed it from the grandmas and grandpas to the littlest kids. There was adventure, action, suspense, and camaraderie. There was no foul language, just good clean fun.

The bad guys were really bad without being nightmarish and the good guys, well, they were just as cute as could be.

There was great camera action and the special effects were masterful. The story was plausible as if it could actually have been true and bringing in the historical aspect was a good way to get kids interested in the Civil War.

To top it all off, it ended well. What more could you ask for.

Who finances this drivel and calls it a movie? I wonder how many scripts actually fall through just because they were worse than this utter mess. It's a bad wannabe of all the great kids movies that have come before it. The acting on the part of the lead boy and girl was so stunted it felt unnatural. The dialog was high-school level literature and the script was awful with nothing to save the movie.

Great for a good laugh if you want to burn away an hour and half of your life. Yes this movie has good morals. most family movies do, so this isn't winning anything for that trait. No swearing or gore, it is for general audience, after all. But this movie was beyond cheesy and so corny it was painful to watch.

Save your time and your money and don't pay heed to the "rave" reviews.