DreamWorks Pictures poured a lot of big-name talent into the new animated movie `The Road to El Dorado' and the result will delight kids and amuse grown-ups.

Young children will see plenty of action, while older kids and grown-ups can appreciate the sight gags and the banter between the two heroes of this adventure.

It's the story of a pair of small-time con men, Tulio and Miguel (voiced by Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh, respectively) who beat the Spanish explorer Cortes to the fabled gold city of El Dorado in the 16th century. When they're welcomed as gods, they plan to go with that scam, scoop up lots of gold and beat it back to Spain.

In El Dorado they meet the sexy and cunning Chel (voiced by Rosie Perez), who regards them as her ticket to the outside world, an evil high priest (voice of Armand Assante) who sees through their ruse and sets out to destroy them, and the chief (voice of Edward James Olmos), a wise and decent man.

Of course, the con men's plan goes awry. Chel comes between the two longtime buddies, and Miguel finds the adulation of the people more alluring than the gleam of gold. But as Cortes and his men threaten the city, Tulio and Miguel save the day, sacrificing their dreams of riches and of life as gods. At least they end up with each other. And that sexy Chel, too.

Rated PG, the film includes a suggestive massage scene with Tulio and Chel, and later some obvious offscreen sex between them. The high priest also pushes his assistant to a watery death.

Apart from the clever lines that Tulio and Miguel toss at each other -- some were ad-libbed in the recording studio by Kline -- the movie is fun to watch for the visual treats. At the end, as Tulio, Miguel and Chel recover from their death-defying exit from El Dorado, their horse realises that only he has wound up with any gold. Quietly, carefully, he slips his shiny golden horseshoes out of sight -- a wise move, given the character of his companions.

It's all done without a word, and it's hilarious.

Elton John wrote the music and Tim Rice the lyrics for the movie's songs, which are fine but not nearly as catchy as the numbers this duo created for `The Lion King'.

`The Road to El Dorado' was directed by Eric `Bibo' Bergeron and Don Paul, and produced by Bonne Radford and Brooke Breton.

Plotting pair: Tulio and Miguel get into plenty of scrapes on `The Road to El Dorado'.