It's like a less traumatizing version of Indiana Jones for kids!
If you were born in the late 90s or early 2000s chances are you have probably heard of Dora the Explorer. The cartoon follows the adventures of a young Hispanic girl who teaches Spanish to young viewers. Now, how do you take that concept, and make it a full length live-action movie? Well, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is the answer. I went in with very low expectations (I viewed it with my baby sister as well mind you), surprisingly enough though, it was pretty good. Just as the headline suggests, this movie feels a lot like a Indiana Jones movie for kids. Now I know, Indiana Jones technically is for kids, but a lot of scenes in those movies can be pretty traumatizing to a young child, for example; Melty Nazi face, Kali ma, You have chosen poorly, and just the entirety of Crystal Skull. Dora is much more tame in the fact that no characters die, there is only mild peril, and this movie is just bursting at the seams with jokes. Some jokes don't land well, but when they do, they can get even a laugh out of me.
The movie starts with an almost exact recreation of the classic theme song sequence complete with talking inanimate objects, and small children driving a Jeep. However it is quickly shown that this is imply the imagination of Dora, and her cousin Diego. During this part it is revealed that Diego, and his parents will be moving to the United States, specifically somewhere in California. There is also a funny moment when child Dora talks to the audience while her parents look at each other with concern. The next day, the two friends split a candy bar, and Dora watches as Diego leaves. The movie then skips a decade later. Dora is now a teenager who is still very similar to how she was a decade ago. Personally I love the actress that plays her, I think she did a great job of embracing her character, and really bringing life to the role. Dora, and her monkey companion Boots soon come across a mysterious golden statue. Knowing that it must be connected to the ancient lost Inca city Parapata, the titular Lost City of Gold. Dora however ends up injuring herself trying to get the statue. Her parents worried about her reckless behavior decide to send her to live with Diego in the city while they go, and try to find Parapata. Next scene she arrives in America, and is greeted by a now grown-up Diego along with his family. While Dora stayed the exact same over a decade, Diego has changed a lot, being more mature then her. Upon arriving at their home Dora presents Diego with her half of a candy bar that they had split a decade earlier. As one might guess, the candy bar is a bit... fuzzy. The next day, she joins Diego in going to school for the first time ever. She is stopped by school security though as her many year living in the jungle, she wasn't exactly aware that she couldn't bring any of her survival gear with her onto school grounds. However, she is allowed to bring her yo-yo, which she says is her most deadly weapon.
Now in school we are introduced to two other characters, Randy, and Sammy who we will learn about more later. Sammy becomes jealous of Dora as before she was the smartest student at the school, and doesn't want Dora stealing her thunder. Randy is seen as a loser by the other kids at the school, but is the first person to become friends with Dora. Now, is it bad that I can relate a little to Dora? I mean her behavior is pretty close to what it was like going to high school while on the Autistic Spectrum. She can't exactly read social ques, and she takes a lot of things literally, and gets made fun of for her mistakes. One example being the annual Winter Dance, the theme was dressing as your favorite star, by which they mean celebrity, but Dora came dressed as the sun instead. Back to the movie though, Diego calls her out for embarrassing him, and she goes home depressed. Her grandmother comforts her saying that it's okay because everyone is weird in their own way. Confession time folks, I actually saw this movie when it came out in theaters with my baby sister, and I just about cried during this scene because close to that time I was having troubles in school. Pretty cringe to cry during the Dora movie though. Now a few days later, Dora, and her class are going on a field trip to the local museum where they are to split up into groups, and go on a scavenger hunt. Dora, Diego, Sammy, and Randy all end up in a group together. Dora, and her friends are invited down into the basement by a suspicious looking person. Once down there, she, and her friends are forced into a crate, and they throw in a canister of sleeping gas to make them faint. When they wake up, they are being unloaded from a aircraft at some sort of base. Fortunately Dora brought a knife, something I thought I would never have to say. She uses the knife to pry open the top of the crate where they are spotted by someone. That someone though is a man named Alejandro who claims that he is good friends with her parents. With his help the group escape the mercenaries. Turns out while searching for Parapata, Dora's parents have mysteriously vanished, and now they have to find them before the greedy mercenaries do. Also turns out Swiper wasn't a figment of Dora's imagination, and really was real the whole time. Don't look too deep into it.
While trying to track down her parents, Alejandro tells the group of a ancient army dedicated to protecting Parapata from outside eyes. Soon enough, the group comes across the deserted campsite that belonged to Dora's parents. Though they do not find her parents, Dora is reunited with Boots, the monkey. After some continued walking Sammy tells the group that she needs to use the bathroom. Dora gladly helps her, and sings a helpful song to go with it. They have to cut it short however as they are soon being attacked by those aforementioned Incan warriors. After escaping them, they find themselves stuck in quicksand that makes a noise similar to flatulence. Despite the low brow humor, the first part got a chuckle out of me. With Dora's help the group is able to get out safely, except for Alejandro who did everything, but listen to Dora. Though it probably didn't help when two scorpions climbed onto his head, and began mating. They are able to save him though as below the pit is a hole that Alejandro probably would've fallen through anyway. They save him, and he begins crying saying that he didn't deserve to be saved, he's such a bad guy. Dora reassures him that no one is a bad guy deep down. Out of all the times for Dora to interpret things literally though, she didn't here. The group then meet an elderly Incan woman who warns them that any who seek Parapata are doomed to die. Though she provides a way to civilization for Randy, and Sammy. The group now splits up with Sammy and Randy going with the strange woman, and the rest continuing on their adventure. Dora, Diego, and Alejandro then get high on shrooms. I wish I was kidding. They have to traverse this field of mysterious plants, only to be affected by the spores. Instead of being poison though, it causes them to hallucinate that they are cartoons. It is after this scene that we see Sammy, and Randy return as the woman had the same symbol as their attackers from before meaning that she could've been leading them to a trap.
With the group back together, they continue their adventure. They are stopped though when they fall into a strange room. Randy assuming it was a Jungle Puzzle as seen in video games, and movies he begins pulling levers. Turns out though that this is actually part of a aqueduct. The group almost don't make it, but thanks to Randy's strange talent of being able to hold his breath underwater for seven minutes, he is able to drain the room. After this Dora is finally able to reunite with her parents, and Randy, along with Sammy gladly introduce themselves as her friends. Alejandro though reveals that he was working with the mercenaries all along, and has them captured. With Boots help they manage to escape, though Dora's parents are still captured. Dora gets angry at Boots asking why he would do that thinking that if they cooperated they would be released. She then realizes that, that would not be the case. Then the most trippiest part of the movie happens. Like more trippy then the actual scene where they were trippen balls; Boots begins to speak! He gives Dora a motivational speech before returning to making his normal monkey noises by the time the rest of the group catches up with Dora. The kids then come up with the idea to enter Parapata, and get the treasure so then they can trade it in return for her parent's safety. With a mercenary, and Swiper guarding the gate, they use a frog seen earlier in the film to paralyze them both temporally. With those two out of the way, the group is able to get to the gate, and solve the actual Jungle Puzzle that was guarding it. With the gate open, our group of friends head into the city where a giant temple stands in the center. They enter the temple, and are met with their now second puzzle. Both Sammy, and Dora though are able to figure it out, and create a golden ratio with a beam of light, allowing them into the next room. The next room though is trap that almost drops them into a spiked pit, though with quick thinking they are able to get out safely. Now the final puzzle, they need to bring the most valuable item in the room to a small statue. Alejandro arrives, and grabs a gold coin. Very similar to The Last Crusade though, "You, have chosen, poorly". Though instead of disintegrating, Alejandro is dropped into a lava pit, or well almost. He is pulled up by the Incan warriors who have also taken Dora's parents prisoner. The old woman also returns, and reveals herself as the ruler of Parapata.
Thanks to her ability to speak Incan, Dora is able to convince the leader to allow her to try. The stakes are very high, but knowing better she solves the puzzle by pouring water into the statue's hands. The doors then open revealing the treasure of Parapata, the audience doesn't get to exactly see it though. Dora's parents, and friends are free to go as well now, and everything seems all fine, and dandy. The movie would be too short though if it ended there, so in comes Swiper swiping the smaller statue, causing the temple to start collapsing. We do get a small glimpse of the treasure during this part however. Luckily before the entire city is ruined, Dora is able to take back the statue, and return it. With that everyone goes back home. Dora's parents seeing how she is now ask if she would want to go with them on their next adventure. Despite this, Dora decides to return to the city for her friends. Now as the credits start to roll we get a obligatory dance party.
The movie isn't the best ever, but it's also not terrible. The movie falls on a lot of kid's movie tropes, and because of that is very predicable. However, I would say that the meta humor saves it. If it weren't for the self aware jokes, chances are the movie would be pretty forgettable. Overall, this is a good movie to show to small children instead of probably traumatizing them with Indiana Jones. This family adventure gets a 3 out of 5 Paws up.
Now in school we are introduced to two other characters, Randy, and Sammy who we will learn about more later. Sammy becomes jealous of Dora as before she was the smartest student at the school, and doesn't want Dora stealing her thunder. Randy is seen as a loser by the other kids at the school, but is the first person to become friends with Dora. Now, is it bad that I can relate a little to Dora? I mean her behavior is pretty close to what it was like going to high school while on the Autistic Spectrum. She can't exactly read social ques, and she takes a lot of things literally, and gets made fun of for her mistakes. One example being the annual Winter Dance, the theme was dressing as your favorite star, by which they mean celebrity, but Dora came dressed as the sun instead. Back to the movie though, Diego calls her out for embarrassing him, and she goes home depressed. Her grandmother comforts her saying that it's okay because everyone is weird in their own way. Confession time folks, I actually saw this movie when it came out in theaters with my baby sister, and I just about cried during this scene because close to that time I was having troubles in school. Pretty cringe to cry during the Dora movie though. Now a few days later, Dora, and her class are going on a field trip to the local museum where they are to split up into groups, and go on a scavenger hunt. Dora, Diego, Sammy, and Randy all end up in a group together. Dora, and her friends are invited down into the basement by a suspicious looking person. Once down there, she, and her friends are forced into a crate, and they throw in a canister of sleeping gas to make them faint. When they wake up, they are being unloaded from a aircraft at some sort of base. Fortunately Dora brought a knife, something I thought I would never have to say. She uses the knife to pry open the top of the crate where they are spotted by someone. That someone though is a man named Alejandro who claims that he is good friends with her parents. With his help the group escape the mercenaries. Turns out while searching for Parapata, Dora's parents have mysteriously vanished, and now they have to find them before the greedy mercenaries do. Also turns out Swiper wasn't a figment of Dora's imagination, and really was real the whole time. Don't look too deep into it.
While trying to track down her parents, Alejandro tells the group of a ancient army dedicated to protecting Parapata from outside eyes. Soon enough, the group comes across the deserted campsite that belonged to Dora's parents. Though they do not find her parents, Dora is reunited with Boots, the monkey. After some continued walking Sammy tells the group that she needs to use the bathroom. Dora gladly helps her, and sings a helpful song to go with it. They have to cut it short however as they are soon being attacked by those aforementioned Incan warriors. After escaping them, they find themselves stuck in quicksand that makes a noise similar to flatulence. Despite the low brow humor, the first part got a chuckle out of me. With Dora's help the group is able to get out safely, except for Alejandro who did everything, but listen to Dora. Though it probably didn't help when two scorpions climbed onto his head, and began mating. They are able to save him though as below the pit is a hole that Alejandro probably would've fallen through anyway. They save him, and he begins crying saying that he didn't deserve to be saved, he's such a bad guy. Dora reassures him that no one is a bad guy deep down. Out of all the times for Dora to interpret things literally though, she didn't here. The group then meet an elderly Incan woman who warns them that any who seek Parapata are doomed to die. Though she provides a way to civilization for Randy, and Sammy. The group now splits up with Sammy and Randy going with the strange woman, and the rest continuing on their adventure. Dora, Diego, and Alejandro then get high on shrooms. I wish I was kidding. They have to traverse this field of mysterious plants, only to be affected by the spores. Instead of being poison though, it causes them to hallucinate that they are cartoons. It is after this scene that we see Sammy, and Randy return as the woman had the same symbol as their attackers from before meaning that she could've been leading them to a trap.
With the group back together, they continue their adventure. They are stopped though when they fall into a strange room. Randy assuming it was a Jungle Puzzle as seen in video games, and movies he begins pulling levers. Turns out though that this is actually part of a aqueduct. The group almost don't make it, but thanks to Randy's strange talent of being able to hold his breath underwater for seven minutes, he is able to drain the room. After this Dora is finally able to reunite with her parents, and Randy, along with Sammy gladly introduce themselves as her friends. Alejandro though reveals that he was working with the mercenaries all along, and has them captured. With Boots help they manage to escape, though Dora's parents are still captured. Dora gets angry at Boots asking why he would do that thinking that if they cooperated they would be released. She then realizes that, that would not be the case. Then the most trippiest part of the movie happens. Like more trippy then the actual scene where they were trippen balls; Boots begins to speak! He gives Dora a motivational speech before returning to making his normal monkey noises by the time the rest of the group catches up with Dora. The kids then come up with the idea to enter Parapata, and get the treasure so then they can trade it in return for her parent's safety. With a mercenary, and Swiper guarding the gate, they use a frog seen earlier in the film to paralyze them both temporally. With those two out of the way, the group is able to get to the gate, and solve the actual Jungle Puzzle that was guarding it. With the gate open, our group of friends head into the city where a giant temple stands in the center. They enter the temple, and are met with their now second puzzle. Both Sammy, and Dora though are able to figure it out, and create a golden ratio with a beam of light, allowing them into the next room. The next room though is trap that almost drops them into a spiked pit, though with quick thinking they are able to get out safely. Now the final puzzle, they need to bring the most valuable item in the room to a small statue. Alejandro arrives, and grabs a gold coin. Very similar to The Last Crusade though, "You, have chosen, poorly". Though instead of disintegrating, Alejandro is dropped into a lava pit, or well almost. He is pulled up by the Incan warriors who have also taken Dora's parents prisoner. The old woman also returns, and reveals herself as the ruler of Parapata.
Thanks to her ability to speak Incan, Dora is able to convince the leader to allow her to try. The stakes are very high, but knowing better she solves the puzzle by pouring water into the statue's hands. The doors then open revealing the treasure of Parapata, the audience doesn't get to exactly see it though. Dora's parents, and friends are free to go as well now, and everything seems all fine, and dandy. The movie would be too short though if it ended there, so in comes Swiper swiping the smaller statue, causing the temple to start collapsing. We do get a small glimpse of the treasure during this part however. Luckily before the entire city is ruined, Dora is able to take back the statue, and return it. With that everyone goes back home. Dora's parents seeing how she is now ask if she would want to go with them on their next adventure. Despite this, Dora decides to return to the city for her friends. Now as the credits start to roll we get a obligatory dance party.
The movie isn't the best ever, but it's also not terrible. The movie falls on a lot of kid's movie tropes, and because of that is very predicable. However, I would say that the meta humor saves it. If it weren't for the self aware jokes, chances are the movie would be pretty forgettable. Overall, this is a good movie to show to small children instead of probably traumatizing them with Indiana Jones. This family adventure gets a 3 out of 5 Paws up.
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