Dora and the Lost City of Gold Review

In an age of reboots and remakes of childhood shows and movies, “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” surprised teens and engaged children in a fun but a confusing hour and forty two minute movie.

“Dora and the Lost City of Gold” begins in a rainforest where a young Dora and her family live. Dora and Diego, Dora’s cousin who is visiting, go on magical adventures together before Diego must leave.

The movie then flashes forward to Dora as a teenager, still living a mostly idyllic and secluded life in the jungle with her parents. Before going on a journey to discover a civilization and the treasure that they hide, Dora’s parents decide that she should go live with her relatives and experience life away from the jungle. Reluctantly, Dora leaves her home, but little does she know, she must face an even bigger threat than snakes or poisonous frogs. Dora must go to high school. As she tries to navigate her new environment, Dora accidentally gets herself, and others, caught in yet another adventure leading them to the jungle and all of the dangers that come with it.

Walking into the movie, we were expecting to see the main characters from the cartoon (Dora, Backpack, Boots, the Map, Swiper, etc). We also wanted to hear the songs that we remember getting stuck in our heads for days on end and we wanted to see Dora incorporate Spanish language and culture into the movie. Surprisingly, many of these hopes for the movie were achieved, but the way they were presented was confusing and disconnected.

The script was unfortunately packed with misplaced one-liners and subplots that were seemingly put in purely for nostalgic purposes. Also, “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” seemed to have struggled to tie events together. Overall the movie was poorly thought out, which took away from any possibly decent parts in the movie. The film was rated PG because of action and impolite humor, but for a kids’ movie, it was too confusing and hard to follow. As we were watching the movie, we felt as if it was rushed, so the end product could not meet up with our expectations. It seems like the only reason the movie came out was so Nickelodeon could sell more Dora toys to a new generation of fans.

“The actress who played Dora, [Isabela Moner], was perfect for the role,” said CHS Sophomore, Max Hagemeister. Moner fits the look with Dora’s notorious hairstyle and outfit and matched the tone of voice Dora featured in the cartoon. The actress plays the innocent and pure explorer perfectly, as she is dropped into an oppressive and unapologetic environment. Even though at times it is hard to watch, Dora remains herself through every struggle and mean girl she encounters. The way Moner perfectly played the awkward and socially inept teen, was the highlight of the film.

Although “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” could have been a great movie that may have brought in large profits for Nickelodeon, while simultaneously drawing in a new generation of Dora the Explorer fans, the movie ultimately did not measure up to expectations that viewers had based on the original cartoon.