What to Watch: Dora and the Lost City of Gold

by Mike Lunsford, Editor-In-Chief Great Geek Refuge

In prior articles, I’ve mentioned how my choices for movies where I actually go to the theater are based on whether I can share the experience with my 10 year old son. In the grand scheme of things was Dora and the Lost City of Gold really on my “must watch” list? No. It seemed like it would be cute to catch on Netflix/Hulu/whatever streaming service it found itself on in about a year. As luck would have it, my wife managed to win free tickets to the movie, so the boy and I, who had both stated interest in seeing it after viewing the surprisingly entertaining trailer, were off to see Dora on the big screen! Check out the trailer below if you haven’t seen it!

If the trailer didn’t give you the basic plot, I’ll give you the run down. Dora (Isabela Moner, Transformers: The Last Knight) has spent most of her life exploring the jungle with her parents but her lack of caution and planning causes her parents to believe she is not ready to keep exploring with them. They decide to send her to Los Angeles where she will attend high school with her cousin, Diego. Through some “exploring” while on a field trip, Dora quickly finds herself, Diego and two other high schoolers on an adventure to save her parents and find a lost Incan city of gold.

The premise is simple enough for kids to enjoy yet there’s plenty for the adults joining them as well. There are a surprising number of in-jokes and winks at the camera, some that the little kids will get some that will fly right over their heads and make the adults laugh. Remember, Dora has been on the air since 2000, so there are plenty of young adults who grew up on Dora and her adventures.

Director James Bobin (co-creator of Flight of the Conchords, director of The Muppets) really understood what he was getting himself into with this movie. He takes a really goofy idea for a live action movie and turned it into a very enjoyable ride. All of the things that made Dora the Explorer the most popular Nick Jr. and often ridiculed show were addressed. At one point, a young Dora turns to the camera and says “can you say delicioso?” Her father (Michael Peña, Ant-Man) asks her mother (Eva Longoria, Desperate Housewives) “this is just a phase, right?” as they try to decipher her odd behavior. What about Dora’s constant singing? As she states “I just love to sing!” But not EVERY Dora trope is explained away, some of them are just as goofy and unbelievable as they were in the cartoon. There’s actually a monkey named Boots that she befriends while she lives in the jungle. She has a backpack, but instead of it talking, it’s a video-game-esque bottomless sack of supplies for whatever she needs at the time. It’s a fair balance of both and it works very well. The special effects are cheesy at points, for example Swiper the Fox and Boots the Monkey don’t look Lion King remake realistic, but it’s more endearing than eye-rolling. This movie isn’t meant to be hyper-realistic or for that matter a “gritty reboot.” It’s Dora! It’s supposed to be fun and teach a lesson. And that it does.

Dora and her crew (from left to right) Sammy, Diego and Randy.

Isabela Moner deserves special mention as she was dynamite as Dora. It is not easy to take a cartoon character and capture the essence of the avatar for pre-school learning and turn it into a full-fledged motion person. She does that admirably in this movie as you see her transition to life in the big city. She gets funny looks, made fun of, and makes enemies all while remaining her chipper, always-optimistic self. When she’s in the jungle, she exudes an Indiana Jones quality. She understands that these artifacts, ancient cities, and sites are not for exploitation, but for seeing, experiencing and respecting. In fact, another feather in Ms. Moner’s cap is she learned the ancient Incan language of Quechua for this role. There was no doubt that she was Dora. While mentioning actors and their portrayals, Michael Peña is a riot as always, with a particularly hilarious scene where he warns Dora of “raves” in the big city.

There’s a tendency as adults for us to rip on the things our children love. Whether it’s the music, movies, TV shows, youTube videos, or video games they play, we tend to find fault in them constantly. Dora the Explorer gets ripped by parents on a regular basis and honestly, it shouldn’t. It was teaching our kids about other cultures, languages, animals, and showing them how to be problem solvers. It’s very much a glib, “cool parent” thing to do, to make fun of their kids favorite TV shows. In watching this movie with my son, I found myself singing along with Dora. I was watching him laugh when there were references to the show, just like I was laughing, too. It was a mini flashback as I remembered him being much smaller and instead of asking for help when he needed something he would say “ayudame.” This kid grew up on Dora and Diego and I fondly remember watching it with him. To this day I still sing “Bate Bate Chocolate” whenever I’m making something with chocolate in it. Watching him enjoy the heck out of this movie was the best part, but the fact that I enjoyed the heck out of it, too made it that much better.

I give Dora and the Lost City of Gold 8 out of 10 stars. Don’t be a juicebag if your kid wants to see this movie. Go see it. They’ll love it, and you will too if you can put your pride aside for a minute and admit that you sang along to Dora songs as well.