Dora and the Lost City of Gold Movie Review

Does This Kid’s Show Translate to the Big Screen?

I was honestly very surprised by the amount of fun I had with this movie! I grew up watching the show and I never in a million years thought they would make a live action movie version of a TV show where a girl goes on crazy adventures with a talking monkey wearing rubber boots. I mean, I thought it wouldn’t translate to film very well because there wasn’t much of a plot to the show, given that every episode is not even twenty minutes long. I expected a whole lot of meandering to stretch the movie out because there are only so many ways to turn a half hour long show into a full length movie, so it seemed like an obvious tactic to pad the movie out. A little girl going on wacky adventures without supervision is a pretty sketchy premise but this movie found a way around the silliness of the show and delivered a solid adventure tale. Sure, the movie does have its silly moments and there are moments of predictability but I enjoyed this movie for what it was. I think many people are going to enjoy this film, especially those who love adventure films with nice looking visuals and set pieces. Let me go ahead and give you a plot synopsis of this film before I get into what I enjoyed.

The Plot

The movie is all about Dora (played by Isabela Moner) who has to venture out into the jungle to find her missing parents. The first quarter of this movie is a fish out of water scenario where Dora meets up with her cousin, Diego (played by Jeff Wahlberg) to try her hand at high school. Of course, she doesn’t fit in very well because of her peculiar peacock dance and overall excited demeanor. While she is on a scavenger hunt inside a museum, she gets captured along with a few of her classmates. A strange man sets the group free who claims to know Dora’s parents, thus, sets the group on an exciting adventure through the jungle to find her missing parents and a mysterious city of gold. It is a pretty simple plot but I didn’t mind since the show is all about getting from point A to B with some singing and dancing along the way.

What Did I Enjoy About the Movie?

• I appreciated the opening of the movie trying to be as faithful as possible to the TV show. The opening set the tone for the rest of the movie and it kind of reminded me of some of the openings to Toy Story where the first five minutes takes place inside the imagination of a child. I think kids who are fans of the show are going to really enjoy the opening sequence which features Swiper the Fox, Backpack, and the Map. I thought it was a pretty clever way to please the fans of Dora the Explorer by showing off some of the characters from the TV show.
• The movie is not only for children but I feel like adults will appreciate the movie, too, because I found myself laughing a few times throughout the film. There are some jokes thrown in to get the adults laughing as well as some cheesy ones for the kids to enjoy. The movie is perfectly balanced for both adults and children and that is nothing but a positive. I expected a cheesy movie for babies but I got a damn near excellent family film with a heartwarming message.
• I found certain segments to be pretty informative. There is a scene where the group gets trapped in quick sand and I loved how Dora explained a realistic way to escape the dangers of quick sand. It was like watching one of those How To videos on YouTube, but in movie form. I liked how the movie incorporated survival tips because not only is it a fun movie scenario to watch, but it’s also a great visual representation of what to do when trapped in quick sand. For anybody who finds themselves sinking in quick sand, all they have to do is think about what Dora would do in a similar situation. It’s a smart way to introduce survival techniques in a family movie.
• I liked how every other scene required the abilities of certain characters in the group. You could say it is a pretty big coincidence that every other trap requires a person with a particular skill to bypass, but I actually found it cute and the thought never crossed my mind while watching the movie because it gave the characters some interesting ways to show their usefulness. I loved the scene where Randy holds his breath to unlock a contraption under the water. It was probably the most tense moment in the movie because water is just so scary.
• The pacing is great! There was never a boring moment in the film and when it was over I felt like I wanted more. The movie did not feel sluggish in the slightest and that is always a positive because this film could have taken its sweet time to pad out the run time, but thankfully it never goes that route. I appreciate the film for being a straight forward adventure film with some fun segments and tense moments. The director knew what the fans wanted and he gave the fans exactly that!
• The sets were very interesting to look at! I was surprised how beautiful this movie looked and I thought the visuals along with the character of Dora were worth the price of admission alone.
  
  

What Didn’t Work?

• There were a few jokes that did not land in the slightest. Michael Pena’s scene where he reenacts a rave is pure cringe and it goes on for like 30 seconds. There was also a character that existed only for comic relief and I thought most of his comedy was more miss than hit.
• The movie has a supposed twist that I could see coming from a mile away. I understand this is a family movie intended for children but I thought the twist was super obvious. I am willing to bet money to see if children could see the twist coming right from the start because it is pretty obvious. When the twist happened I just couldn’t help but laugh because I did not expect to be right. I wanted to give the film a chance to go in some other direction with the plot but it was something that has been done in films time and time again.
• I thought some of the CGI looked pretty dated, especially on Swiper the Fox when he is running around with an artifact in his hand. It just reminded me of a cartoon, and yes I know it is based on a cartoon but this is supposed to be a live action movie. When there is a cartoon fox running around with a bunch of real people it is kind of hard to take seriously.
  

In Conclusion

I found myself laughing and on the edge of my seat while watching this movie. I expected a movie for babies but I got a very well paced adventure movie with an interesting lead in Dora along with amazing sets. I think this movie is worth seeing in the theater if you have children because they will find the visuals colorful, especially if they are fans of Dora the Explorer. There is a scene where the movie goes full on animation and I thought it was breathtaking to look at. I feel like the children will laugh and have fun along with the parents because it is very appealing to the eye and has jokes for the entire family to enjoy. I found the traps and the exploration to be the highlight of the film and I will say that it represented the show with flying colors. I am going to give this movie 4 stars out of 5! This was a much better movie than I thought it was going to be. The only drawbacks were that it’s highly predictable and the CGI didn’t always work but these were just minor flaws and had no affect on the overall movie. Go out and watch this movie for a fun time! If you enjoyed my review then be sure to share this article around on social media! I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!