Dora the Explorer
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Aug 9, 2019 · Now that she’s a teenager, her parents have decided to send her to Los Angeles to attend high school with Diego (Jeff Wahlberg) while they go on a dangerous mission to find the elusive, mysterious Parapata, the lost city of gold.
Led by a winning performance from Isabela Moner, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a family-friendly adventure that retains its source material's youthful spirit. Read Critics...
- (157)
- James Bobin
- PG
- Isabela Merced
- Fans of the show will find this live-action version worth swiping.
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- Dora and the Lost City of Gold Review
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By Jenna Busch
Updated: Apr 28, 2020 10:14 pm
Posted: Aug 8, 2019 11:15 pm
Some of the effects are silly, and don’t look for logic here, but the jokes in Dora and the Lost City of Gold are great and the cast is a delight. If you’re a fan of the animated series (or even a parent of a fan) you’re going to be happy with the film.
Dora the Explorer ran as a kid’s animated series for over a decade and was translated into dozens of languages. A generation of children sang along with the singing map, told Swiper the fox not to swipe and followed a little explorer and her monkey through all of their adventures. Though the film version of the popular series starts off when Dora and her cousin Diego are kids, Diego has to leave the jungle for Los Angeles, and Dora is largely left to her own devices, exploring on her own.
This goes on for 10 years, and little Dora is now grown up. Sort of. Imagine what would happen to you if you hung out with no one but a monkey, some animals in the jungle and your professor parents. The Dora we see in the film (Isabela Moner) hasn’t really grown up, she sings to herself, talks to the animals and is super focused on her parents’ (Eva Longoria and Michael Pena) search for the lost Incan city of Parapata. When they send her off to live with her abuela and her cousin’s family, she has to explore a new jungle -- high school -- and the poor girl has absolutely no idea how things work.
She’s never seen a school bus. She’s got a backpack full of emergency supplies that hold up the line at the school’s metal detector (and will give adults a chill, reminding them of the world we live in where that is necessary), and she’s outrageously positive. Diego (Jeff Wahlberg) doesn’t want to be seen with her, and the school’s smarty pants Sammy (Madeleine Madden) can’t handle that the new girl is as intelligent as she is. It’s the usual high school story, with a protagonist who seems to be more of a 10-year-old than a 16-year-old, albeit with amazing comic timing.
Sound like a bad thing? It’s not. It’s surprising that the filmmakers decided not to keep the kids as tweens, since that’s how they all act, but it’s going to be aspirational for little kids to look at high school kids that way. The young cast is surprisingly joyful, even when they’re playing stereotypes. A standout is Nicholas Coombe as the geek Randy. Yes, sigh, we’re doing the geek stereotype here, but he’s adorable. You might see yourself in Randy, who has all the video game experience. As soon as the gang - who has been kidnapped to help the bad guys find Dora’s parents and their discovery - enters the temple, you just know Randy is going to figure out all the traps as he’s clearly played a lot of Tomb Raider. As someone who has done that very thing, I saw them coming as well. Yeah, he’s the geek, but he’s close to my heart, and it was easy to love him.
Sammy dresses as Ruth Bader Ginsburg so when she goes after Diego for being sexist, it made me bristle, thinking they were making her the angry feminist. After a while, however, it was clear that she was putting up the same barriers as Diego, the jock who is embarrassed by his very open cousin. In fact, it was nice to see a female friendship melt her cold heart, rather than love for a boy. That’s in there as well, but it’s not the cause of her change.
You probably shouldn’t read very much into the characterizations of a kid’s movie based on a cartoon about a little girl, but it’s hard not to. Dora and the Lost City of Gold has a lot to say about breaking down your barriers, and how difficult it is to be yourself around other people. If you don’t feel seen, you have to take on a persona to stand out, whether that makes you popular, an overachiever, a tough young woman or a geek. Dora has been alone, and allowed to develop her interests and her personality in a way that is pure. It changes everyone around her for the better. It’s hard to think of a lovelier message for a film aimed at children.
As for the other characters, Michael Pena steals this film like he does every other film he’s in. If anyone starts a petition to get him to adopt us all, please let me know. Eugenio Derbez is wonderfully goofy as the good guy who might not be so good. Though we only hear Danny Trejo voice Boots for a moment (more on that in a bit), his one short speech is just about perfect.
And now the cartoon. Fans are going to get a healthy dose of nostalgia, including one sequence that had the audience laughing like crazy. Let’s just say that they manage to make sure you remember what you used to watch as a kid rather deftly. We see how Boots got his name, a map sings and a backpack talks. And then there is Swiper. Yes, you will hear the classic line, “Swiper, no swiping." Here’s the issue though; Swiper, who is a fox in a mask, talks in Benicio Del Toro’s voice, but no one seems to think that’s odd. Later, when Boots talks, Dora is shocked. Did she not just hear the talking fox? She also seems to be able to control a poison frog’s actions. Dora does sing, and it’s made into a joke, which actually works very well, but the talking animal thing…maybe either decide to do it or don’t. None of the villains seem to think it’s odd that a fox is chatting with them while doing their heavy lifting.
Dora and the Lost City of Gold might have characters in high school, but it’s definitely got a younger feel. While it may be light on logic and effects, it’s still a lovely story about being yourself, no matter what anyone thinks. Kids are going to love this one, and parents are actually going to be able to sit through it. It’s a bit heavy on the s...
Review scoring
good
If you’re a fan of the animated series, you’re going to be happy with Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
Jenna Busch
Quirky, aged-up adventure has positive messages. Read Common Sense Media's Dora and the Lost City of Gold review, age rating, and parents guide.
- James Bobin
- Sandie Angulo Chen
- Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon
Jul 28, 2019 · Rated PG, 103 minutes. Isabela Moner, Eva Longoria and Michael Pena star in 'Dora and the Lost City of Gold,' a big-screen live-action adaptation of the popular animated series 'Dora...
Aug 8, 2019 · Dora and the Lost City of Gold Rated PG for mild jungle action and a cavalier attitude toward inflammatory bowel diseases. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes.
Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a surprisingly good live-action version of the cartoon phenomenon. Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 12, 2022
