Dora and the Lost City of Gold: Film Review
Cast: Isabela Moner, Eva Longoria, Michael Pena, Eugenio Derbez, Jeff Wahlberg, Temuera MorrisonDirector: James Bobin
Can you say "Not quite sure what it wants to be?"
The Dora the Explorer film, with Muppets director James Bobin behind the helm, is a family friendly slice of Indiana Jones, coming of age, Tomb Raider-esque oddity.
Moner is Dora, prone to asking questions of nobody (something her father, the excellently cast Michael Pena, hopes she'll grow out of) and who has been brought up in the jungle.
When her parents decide to go on a quest to find the ancient city of Parapata, Dora is sent to the city to reunite with her cousin Diego (Wahlberg) and to experience the horrors of high school.
Roundly mocked by the cliques for her perkiness and odd precocious behaviour, Dora finds herself- along with her unwilling high school compadres - thrown into an adventure when she's kidnapped after her parents go missing...
Mixing a huge dollop of self-awareness, with an irritatingly winning ever-chipper performance from Moner, Dora and the Lost City of Gold will prove successful with its audience who've grown up with the animated explorer and her wily ways.
But Bobin injects a degree of magicality into the film, peppering it with silly songs that are supposed to inform and entertain ("Can you say severe neurotoxicity? ", Dora says at one point) and which nods to the show's MO.
There are messages of self-belief, and of staying true to yourself which will appeal to the outsiders among the viewers, and there are moments, particularly during the final exploration, that are a bit scarier for younger ends of the audience, but which pay homage to the Indiana Jones-esque elements.
Ultimately, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a solid slice of family film - it's not too memorable in the wash, but with a winning Moner giving her all and keeping the energy up throughout, she's one explorer you're happy to tag along with for the adventure.
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