Dora And The Lost City Of Gold

Dora And The Lost City Of Gold – Dora has grown up living in the jungle. But when her parents go searching for the Lost City of Gold she finds herself stuck with cousin Diego and other school friends, looking for clues as to where her parents can be. The jungle may have been a home to Dora, but can she keep her friends safe and find the lost city before it is too late?

Dora And The Lost City Of Gold (2019) – Director: James Bobin

By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61245735

Rating: PG

Running Length: 102 mins

Starring: Isbela Moner, Eugino Derbez, Michael Peña

Genre: Action / Adventure, Comedy

REVIEW: ‘DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD’

Based on the popular Nickelodeon show ‘Dora The Explorer’, ‘Dora And The Lost City Of Gold’ is a live action movie that slots wonderfully into the now rare ‘PG family movie’ category. Starring Isbela Moner as Dora, ‘Dora And The Lost City Of Gold’ takes a ‘Spy Kids’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ feel that revels in its own sense of adventure both for a high school girl starting school, and a confident young woman hacking back the jungle like it aint no thang.

The plot is fairly standard. Dora, having been raised in the jungle, must now traverse the treacherous world of high school. Her endless upbeat enthusiasm ensures that any ‘fish out of water’ plot lines are dealt with comically, and when her gang of high schoolers join her in the lush overgrown jungle due to some kidnap shenanigans well, then the boot is on the other foot. Really, the movie doesn’t get started until everyone hits the jungle as all other shots beforehand scream ‘character establishment!’ just a little too much. However, the movie retains the child-like glee of the original show (such as various forth wall breaking ‘can you say ‘poisonous’?’ gags) thanks to the superb performance from Isbela Moner. She delivers boundless enthusiasm throughout without straying into ‘sickly’ and her charisma carries the film perfectly well.

Of her supporting cast, it’s odd that cousin Diego is mostly left out.  Many scenes snap with back and forth with dialogue before you notice that he is even there. Filling out the edges he leaves behind are classmates like the nerdy Randy and preppy Sammy. The arc they go on is predictable (Randy gets confidence! Sammy learns humility!) but regardless the group work well together. As the only constant adult, erstwhile guide, Alejandro, delivers plenty of comic relief throughout. The movie pays homage to its origins with lots of ‘educational’ dialogue and occasional forays into talking maps, but brings a live action immediacy to the formula.

Dora And The Lost City Of Gold was clearly written with those that love the source material but were happy to slap in some modern jokes and sensibilities, which give it a constant fun and tongue in cheek feel. Yes, it’s daft to have a talking thief fox, but thankfully this is tempered with the charisma of a fun and vibrant youthful cast. This is a movie for children that have grown beyond the overly childish material but aren’t ready for higher rated movies that will inevitably drop in too-strong material. Dora will solve any situation with a song, no matter who glares at her, and isn’t that something to aspire to in 2019?! Yes. Yes it is.

CONTENT: ‘IS DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

Dora and her cousin Diego are both 6 years old and living together with her family. Diego has to move to live with his parents and they are both upset at the separation. Dora hugs her parents in sorrow.

10 years later Dora and Diego are reunited. When they were split they had halved a candy bar to reunite later. Dora presents her (10 year old) candy bar half and later, eats it. She winces as she chews but otherwise suffers no ill effects. This may be imitable.

Dora introduces herself to Randy and they bond over a mutual love of astronomy. However, once Diego and Dora move away you can see in the background that Randy is pushed forcefully up against lockers in the school corridor by some bullies. This is shown briefly in the background and the scene cuts very shortly after.

Dora dances enthusiastically at a school dance and is nicknamed ‘dorker’ by some bullies as a result.

Diego is embarrassed to be seen with his cousin Dora. After the dance he calls he the ‘class weirdo’. She walks away, upset. We see her being comforted by Diego’s grandmother.

Dora and a group of other high school children are marooned in the jungle. There is a foreboding shot showing the foliage in mist and darkness. Several characters hesitate to enter but Dora shows no fear.

During a group argument Dora is talking to Diego at one side. When it becomes clear that he is attracted to someone she states that life threatening situations ‘accelerate the mating process in many species’. Shortly after Randy is alone with Sammy and he talks briefly about how they’ll ‘have to start a family’.

Dora and her group stumble upon some quicksand. Initially the group have fun lifting their legs which results it the sound of breaking wind. However, the danger becomes quickly apparent. It appears that one of the group is consumed by the quicksand but shortly after they are completely submerged, help comes from an unknown quarter.

Dora and others are directed towards some giant plants. Once disturbed, the plants release a large volume of pollen. It becomes apparent that this is having a hallucinatory effect on the group. Their guide decides to strip off and their is a brief shot of his naked cartoon self striding into the jungle with a visible bare bottom.

The group fall into a room that is described as a ‘jungle puzzle’. It fills up with water and the group are very worried. However, they have a plan to rescue themselves.

A trusted character turns on the group. They are hurt by this action but it is not lingered upon

Dora realises her actions could get her and her friends killed. She reflects on this for a short moment of melanchony. Other characters consider killing her although one points out then she’s ‘just a kid’.

A character fails at a booby trap test and apparently falls into lava. This result is held for around 20 seconds.

There are several parts of the movie that use subtitles to translate what the characters are saying. Mostly this can be guessed from surrounding dialogue. During the climactic scenes some vital plot is delivered via subtitles which may be a problem for younger children.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD’ FOR KIDS?

‘Dora And The Lost City Of Gold’ does what many many films fail to do – capture the ‘pre-teen family movie’ market. It’s silly without being childish. It’s tongue in cheek without being cynical. And it has genuine adventure to keep the tension going. We would therefore say that ‘Dora and The Lost City of Gold’ is suitable for ages 5 and up.

• Violence: 1/5 (some minor pushing and shoving)
• Emotional Distress: 1/5 (characters get upset sometimes)
• Fear Factor: 1/5 (some characters get hurt with others feeing distressed on their behalf)
• Sexual Content: 1/5 (several reference to ‘mating’ throughout)
• Bad Language: 0/5
• Dialogue: 1/5 (mild threats to ‘kill’ other characters)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of embarrassment, finding your place in the world, peer pressure, overcoming fear, kidnapping, anthropological interest, and doing what is right.

Words by Michael Record