Movie Review: The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box

For seventeen-year-old, Mariah Mundi (Aneurin Barnard), there is magic, adventure, and evil to conquer in The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box by RLJ Entertainment. The film is directed by Jonathan Newman and is adapted by G.P. Taylor from his own Mariah Mundi novels.

Mariah's parents vanish, his brother is kidnapped, and he is left to sneak his way into the Prince Regent Hotel where he believes he will find his brother. Their mother gave them both amulets, the key to the Midas Box once joined.

Mariah meets Will Charity (Michael Sheen) who speaks of his friendship to Mariah's parents, Charles and Catherine Mundi (Ioan Gruffudd and Keeley Hawes), and how they are members of the Bureau of Antiquities, an organization that protects artifacts like the Midas Box, which a man named Luger (Sam Neill) hopes to find.

Luger is the antagonist in the film and the owner of the Prince Regent Hotel who fails to notice the other half of the amulet in his hotel on one of his employees, Mariah. Charity returns later on in the film to play the role of a hero in his own right.

While under the noses of his enemies, Mariah befriends Sacha (Mella Carron), a co-worker in the hotel, and together they piece together maps, magic tarot cards, and clues in order to find his brother, Felix (Xavier Atkins), and the other children who have disappeared. The kidnapped children are in grave danger; will Mariah and Sacha find them before it is too late?

This movie takes a while to jump off, but once it does, it reels the viewer in. The viewer feels for Mariah and wants him to find Felix. Sacha has some issues with her father since her mother is gone and he drinks a lot. Mariah offers to help her, but the story of her father returns in a different light. There is also the presence of tarot cards, an occult practice, that could confuse younger Christians. The rating of the movie is PG, but certain aspects may be scary or inappropriate for very young children.

The movie promotes the values of sacrifice, courage, and love, but a phrase that is used in the movie, “No harm shall come to thee, as long as gold is at thy side,” seems shallow. At first I thought Mariah says “God”, but when he says it again, I realized he says “gold”. In order to shield the Midas Box, which is a weapon, he needs gold, not God, to save him. As Christians, we are meant to only rely on God, not material possessions, to save us.

Overall, the movie was exciting and enjoyable. The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box was released into limited theaters on January 10, 2014 and will be on DVD and Blu-ray February 10, 2014. It is also available rent for $9.99 on Amazon and iTunes. Are you ready for the adventure?