My Review of "Dora and the Lost City of Gold"

Dora and the Lost City of Gold came out quietly in theatres in 2019. It's a big surprise to me that there was little fanfare for this movie as Dora The Explorer was a very popular cartoon for kids back in the day. Now she's grown up and still exploring. I think those that grew up watching that show might want to check this movie out.

This movie starts out just like a cartoon but with live actors. It's Dora and her cousin Diego having make believe fun in the jungle. It looks like she's doing her kids cartoon show because she's talking to the audience. There's a lot of craziness because there's animated characters in this sequence. Reality hits us like a ton of bricks a few moments later. We realize that she's just living in the life of make believe.

The thing is that she does live in the jungle with her parents. Her parents are looking for the elusive Parapata which is a lost city of gold. Here they foreshadow a number of things and explain a few things to the audience so they can get some context into what is going to happen. It's very funny because the movie is fully aware of itself. Dora would continue to talk to the camera as if it's another person in the room while her dad is wondering what's wrong with her.

Unfortunately the fun ends there because Diego has to move back with his family in the city and 10 years elapses. Dora is spirited as ever but getting herself into crazier jungle situations. Her parents are worried that she's going to hurt herself if she continues to travel with them to find Parapata. They decide to send her to live with Diego in the city for own good while they continue exploring.

When Dora meets Diego it looks like Diego has changed a lot since the time she last saw him. He's no longer as jovial as he was before because he's used to city living and the hells of high school.

As you can imagine Dora is going to have a heck of a time adjusting to high school with her manic happy attitude. She's still herself no matter what craziness happens though and that's a pretty awesome thing to see in this movie. It gets to her after a while but that's only when she loses contact with her parents in the jungle.

The movie becomes a totally different movie when Dora, Diego and their two friends get kidnapped by a bunch of gangsters trying to get to Parapata. Along the way they're rescued by this guy Alejandro who is absolutely hilarious. Well his character isn't incredibly funny but the actor's timing and expressions are amazingly funny. He really steals some of the scenes in this movie.

This is a fairly predictable film that contains a ton of content. You have the introduction, then the fish out of water tale with the high school scenes and then you have the goonies like adventure in the last half of the movie. All to say it's something that I kind of expected out of this movie. That's not a bad thing because all of the actors did terrific jobs in bringing life to their characters and kept the movie lively.

I'm sure that the generation that grew up with Dora the Explorer are much older now and would be able to have fun with this. Adults such as myself are able to enjoy it too because there are so many jokes that could go over children's heads. It's also good wholesome fun. I really liked that they were able to add so much but not take away the fact that it was once a beloved children's TV show.

I have to warn you that the special effects are pretty low quality. It kind of took me out of the movie seeing how bad some of the effects were. It was made for TV quality effects. It doesn't detract you from the whole movie but it is a bit of a distraction especially closer to the last half of the movie.

Overall, this movie is a fun ride and a great family movie. I think that this movie should have gotten a lot more attention. It is definitely an underrated movie that people are sleeping on. I have to give this movie a 7 out of 10. You don't have to have kids to have a good time with this movie. It can be enjoyed by all.