The Kings of Appletown

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Audience Member Decent watch, can't say I'm going to watch it again, but can recommend for younger audiences and mystery lovers. So, because this is almost as interesting as the movie: apparently this was realeased in 2008 (IMDb) as "Adventures in Appleton", then was re-released in 2011 as "Kings of Appletown", and then released in 2013 as "Hidden Treasure of the Mississippi". Either Disney was desperate to get this to make money or their lawyers were very active. The movie itself isn't great, it's a basic Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew story without any flair. Don't get me wrong, there are a couple small twists, but it's a weak b storyline and its hard to root for kids that have regular access to dirt bikes and jetskis but seem privileged enough to pay $3 for fair stuff, but still have to paint the fence themselves. Hell, he didn't even trick his friends into doing it (Go watch Huckleberry Finn). The real problem is that it was obvious that Disney thought their names would draw viewership here, but they didn't market it as "Zach and Cody" and "Victorious" so I doubt it worked. Being a Disney kid star spoils you, it rots your brain, at least a little, and not everyone bounces back into a good actor right away. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Watched the movie online, and I loved it. Ali heard it went back into post-production and hasn't been released since. Overall, still a good movie Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Based on a Tom Sawyer story, it'd gotten resurrected with modern storytelling through a form with average offerings within a small scale that's at its own standards, few manageable Hitchcockian elements when it comes to the mystery genre, and enjoying it at a decent level, especially when it stars the Sprouse twins from "The Suite Life" series. (B) (Full review coming soon) Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member they actually did a good job with this low-budget mystery thriller for kids sure it can be a bit extreme and intense when it comes to the supposed-violence and danger Will and Clayton face while solving a murder/treasure case but the film demands that kind of maturity when two kids see a horrible act being committed and are thrust into the peril Victoria Justice is just as awesome as the Sprouse brothers but I was bothered that in the 1st half she was barely present, the 2nd half though they gave her more of an actual role to partake in the plot thank goodness, unfortunately the last half of the film they do the same thing they did at the start of the movie I would have thought being in this cast list as the 3rd protagonist she would have gotten more of a pivotal focus even as a love interest for Will there were also some minor plotholes that started popping up; the whole sports tryout between Will and Clayton which is only briefly mentioned, the bullies never being confronted entirely, the weak ending on a freeze frame and never going back and never seeing the supposed-romance blossom the upsides did present themselves a lot more though; the pacing was very fast, the filmmakers didn't waste anytime explaining everything and the picture quality of the film is crisp and sharp like I said they did do a good job telling this pre-teen treasure hunting story they didn't make it overly-slick or cool and kept it at its roots whew Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Frances H Just okay kids film. The two leads repeat their lines like they are reading the phone book and have no charm what-so-ever. What led me to watch the movie was that it had Eileen Brennan in it, but her role did not showcase her talents so that was a wash as well. So-so story for kids, but with none of the charm of The Goonies. Nothing for adults here. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 06/10/13 Full Review Read all reviews

The Kings of Appletown

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