Dora and the Lost City of Gold: Review

Let me start this review with a frank admission – I’m not strictly in the demographic for a Dora the Explorer film. I remember watching the show when I was a kid and enjoying it, but that was many years ago. So, would a live-action remake of the show be worth the watch? The answer, surprisingly, is yes – even as an adult, it was still enjoyable to go on an adventure with Dora.

Dora (Isabela Moner) is a teenager explorer, the daughter of two accomplished explorers and archaeology professors (Eva Longoria and Michael Peña), who has spent her childhood growing up in the jungle. However, she must soon adapt to a new environment – the suburban city – when she heads to high school with her cousin Diego (Jeff Wahlberg). Her parents are off to try and find the legendary city of Parapata, which is reportedly filled with gold. Dora is initially disappointed to not join them on their quest but, when they go missing, she is forced into an exploration of her own.

Even as an adult, it was still enjoyable to go on an adventure with Dora

The highlight of this film is Moner’s performance as Dora, and she perfectly nails childlike enthusiasm and sweet naivety in a teenager’s body. I was worried that the constant positivity would quickly grow to be annoying, and it’s to Moner’s credit that it really doesn’t. The rest of the cast does their job with what are essentially slapstick versions of the characters you’d expect (the girl who wants to go home, for example, or the comedy useless explorer), as Benicio del Toro puts in a fine vocal performance as Swiper the Fox, but it’s Moner’s film through and through (there’s also an unexpected cameo as the voice of Boots the Monkey, and I wish the film did more with it).

It’s good that Moner’s character work is so good, because it helps guide a first act that is really quite unfocused. It sets itself up as a fish-out-of-water school drama, giving Dora a slight bit of angst (swiftly forgotten) and some tangential relationships with other characters before we actually get onto the actual exploring part of the story. This lull wants to fill in emotional groundwork, but it doesn’t really succeed here – however, it does set the stage for a lot of jokes, most of which land well. This movie is funnier than most of the big-screen comedies I’ve seen this year (although it necessarily goes for a couple of toilet jokes – do even kids find them funny?).

The highlight of this film is Moner’s performance as Dora, and she perfectly nails childlike enthusiasm and sweet naivety in a teenager’s body

The film is very self-aware, and that adds to the fun – so, as Dora echoes some moments from the show (asking the audience to repeat certain lethal details of an animal or singing a song to her friends), it feels like we’re in on the joke, and that works to the film’s benefit. It’s a shame that the puzzle elements of the narrative are quite weak, though, given that they’re such a fundamental part of the show, and there’s a shock twist leading into the film’s third act that won’t surprise anyone but the youngest of children. Everything feels very stylised, and it has the effect of making a lot of dodgier-looking visual effects feel like part of the world, rather than rendering them disappointing – this culminates in a hallucination sequence that was really funny and well done.

Don’t get me wrong – Dora and the Lost City of Gold is undoubtedly a kid’s film, but it’s also a surprisingly enjoyable watch. It’s fun and frequently funny, and it boasts a strong lead performance that has the power to engage everyone, no matter their age. Although it certainly has weak points, these don’t detract from the film as much as suggest how it could have been even better. This was not one that I was looking forward to watching, but it was a pleasure to watch such a wholesome, amusing and genuinely fun film.