Review by John Delia
A very family friendly film the movie Dora and the Lost City of Gold enters theaters this weekend and it’s a sure winner with children 5 to 13. The box-office revenue for the film will experience a boost with the many parents that will accompany the films audience. It’s all rightly so and I think that even the adults that are dragged in will be happily surprised at the fun and adventure the film provides.
The film opens with young Dora (Madelyn Miranda) exploring the jungle and having fun with her best friend and cousin Diego. Boots her monkey friend is along to liven the day and it’s not long before it’s time to be home. But her parents Elena (Eva Longoria) and Cole (Michael Pena) deliver the sad news that Dora’s Uncle is taking his family to Los Angeles to live.
Time goes by quickly and we find Dora (Isabela Moner) has become a teenager. Wanting her to grow up with other children her age her parents send her to the school in LA were her cousin Diego (Jeff Wahlberg) attends. There her jungle ways start to attract friends and she is becoming popular to the dismay of Class President Samantha (Madeleine Madden). When Dora finds out that her parents are missing in the jungle, she finds her way back to her home with the aid of Samantha, Randy (Nicholas Combs) and cousin Diego.
The movie is directed by James Bobin famous for Alice through the Looking Glass and The Muppets. Here he tackles an important property that needs special care if the producers want to turn it into a series of sequels. Since there’s really not much for the early age group on the big screen, this film should garner a huge audience. The two teens that attended a showing of the film with me were totally familiar with the Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., series and could tell me about the characters, so there’s an audience that should be sought after.
Bobin does a terrific job with seamless connection to teen Dora and with the fun trials of adjusting to her first public school and that being High School, he had a great pallet to work with. But his prized possession is Isabela Moner who knocks her character Dora out of the park with a performance she should be able to repeat in future sequels. She’s already seasoned with roles in Instant Family, Transformers: The Last Knight, and the TV series of “100 Things to do Before High School†so the legend begins now. As star of Dora and the City of Gold she proves her worth in an adventure that’s fun to watch and had me laughing at some nicely laid surprises.
Dora and the City of the Gold has been rated PG by the MPAA for action and some impolite humor. It also ups the rating to its highest level with some peril dodging arrows while trying to escape natives. Here first year in high school has some bullying and the jungle holds some sinister adversaries.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A fun adventure for a split audience of youngsters and parents. (4 out of 5 stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Isabela Moner, Eugenio Derbez, Michael Peña, Eva Longoria, Adriana Barraza, Temuera Morrison, Jeff Wahlberg, Nicholas Coombe, Madeleine Madden, with Danny Trejo voice of Boots and Benicio Del Toro voice for Swiper.
Directed by: James Bobin
Genre: Adventure, Family
MPAA Rating: PG for action and some impolite humor
Running Time: 1 hr. 34 min.
Opening Date: August 9, 2019
Distributed by: Paramount Players
Released in: DTS, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision