377. Dora And The Lost City Of Gold; movie review

DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD
Cert PG
102 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild threat, rude humour

I have complained a lot about the schedule of films which have been released by the big studios in 2019 but I do welcome the re-emergence of traditional family films.
And the good news for Dora The Explorer fans is that this first movie adaptation has made enough money to warrant more.
Will Paramount take that option up? I would be amazed if it didn't.
I digress. While I recognise that James Bobin's movie could be labelled twee, I thought that the transfer of Dora from animation to-real life worked.
This is largely down to the wide-eyed enthusiasm Isabela Moner brings to its lead.
She lives in the jungle with her mum (Eva Longoria) and dad (Michael Peña) who are obsessed with the lost Inca city of gold, known as Parapata.
Dora is at home with her surroundings, making friends with animals and becoming particularly adept at survival.
However, in her teenage years, her parents decide she should stay with her relatives in the city and study at high school.
A few of the film's initial chuckles surround her over-enthusiastic first days at school when she is seen as Dora the dork.
But it is not long before she is back in the jungle, looking for treasure with her cousin (Jeff Wahlberg) and unwilling schoolmates (Nicholas Coombe and Madeleine Madden ).
That is when the adventure really begins - panto-style villains, wild animals, angry natives and jungle puzzles contribute to what amounts to Jumanji Lite with a tad of animation chucked in.
There is no doubt that Bobin's film is aimed fair and square at the under-12s but, as someone significantly older, I was still rather taken with its innocence.
However, as Moner is probably too old for the Dora role already, it will be interesting to know where they go next.

Reasons to watch: Old-style Disney adventure
Reasons to avoid: maybe Dora is a bit too twee

Laughs: A couple of chuckles
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? On Aug. 14, 2000, Dora the Explorer premiered on Nickelodeon and instantly ranked as the number-one-rated preschool show on commercial television. It is now is syndicated to TV broadcasters in 151 markets and translated into 30 languages.

Final word. Isabela Moner: "I hope that people take that positivity that she has and that willingness to be herself in every situation, and just use it in real life. Because instead of this culture where it's cool to be by yourself and completely solo and not care about anything." Screen Rant

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