'Dora and the Lost City of Gold' Review

Synopsis: Having spent most of her life exploring the jungle, nothing could prepare Dora for her most dangerous adventure yet - high school. Accompanied by a ragtag group of teens and Boots the monkey, Dora embarks on a quest to save her parents while trying to solve the seemingly impossible mystery behind a lost Incan civilization.

Runtime: 102 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG (for action and some impolite humor)

Who should see it? Families with young children interested in Dora the Explorer.

Based on the Nickelodeon animated series Dora the Explorer created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh, and Eric Weiner, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is the first live-action feature for the famed female adventurer. Handling her live-action debut, director James Bobin and writers Matthew Robinson, Nicholas Stoller, and Tom Wheeler have re-imagined the property as Tomb Raider for four-to-eight-year-olds. As one would suspect, children are the target audience, and the filmmakers catered much of the comedy towards that demographic. Unfortunately, that means there's an absurd amount of toilet humor (namely poop-and-fart jokes as well as a few peculiar references to mating). Aside from a couple of chuckle-worthy moments of self-awareness and some bizarre scenes which must be seen to be believed, Dora and the Lost City of Gold has little to offer adults. It's a live-action cartoon plain-and-simple.

Contrary to the recent trend of adapting animated properties with realism firmly in mind, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is silly, self-aware, and as carefree as it can be. Disregarding a pragmatic approach proved to be for the best though since taking itself too seriously would have surely ended in disaster. Bobin and the screenwriters embrace the series' wacky sensibilities and find unique ways to translate them to the big screen. For better or worse, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is most engaging when the filmmakers swing for the fences. Otherwise, it's fairly formulaic. The plot and circumstances these characters find themselves in often call Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones to mind. And the score from John Debney and Germaine Franco even seems to emulate John Williams' adventurous themes at times.

Front and center, Isabela Moner embodies the Dora persona quite nicely. Moner leans into the overbearing enthusiasm and naive nature of the character for an intentionally cheesy performance which is consistent with the established tone. This could have easily gone awry in the wrong hands, but Moner made it work. High-profile cast members include Eugenio Derbez, Michael Peña, Eva Longoria, Benicio Del Toro, and Danny Trejo who each lent sufficient supporting performances in varying roles. Dora's peers are played by Jeff Wahlberg, Madeleine Madden, and Nicholas Coombe to lackluster effect as one-note comic relief. I found their characters obnoxious and felt their line delivery was wooden.

And this wouldn't be a proper Dora the Explorer adaptation without Boots and Swiper. For a majority of the film, Boots communicates via monkey grunts rather than speech. However, Danny Trejo is credited as voicing the blue and yellow primate, and that's made abundantly clear when Boots speaks in a specific scene. It's odd and treated as such, but even stranger that the characters question Boots' ability to talk while Swiper's treated as a commonplace fox. 

But Swiper is no run-of-the-mill animal, nor is he vocalized by an unknown voice-over actor. Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro voices the sly fox, delivering the signature line "Oh man!" to hilarious effect. Yes, you read that correctly... Del Toro's likely the last actor you'd expect to take on such a role, but he's probably eager to diversify his portfolio. Jokes aside, Del Toro's Swiper was a genuine stand-out to the extent I wish he'd had more screen time. I'd also be remiss to ignore the visual effects utilized to realize Boots and Swiper. While not flawless, they retain the distinctive features of the original cartoon designs and are very impressive considering the $50 M budget.

Unless you're feeling nostalgic for Dora the Explorer or have young children, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is an excavation site best left unexplored at the cinema. Thankfully, there are enough wacky scenarios and clever meta-jokes to compensate for generic plotting and toilet humor while ensuring a tolerable experience at the very least!

Film Assessment: C+