Dora And The Lost City Of Gold Surprises As A Fun Family-Friendly Adventure That Cleverly Reimagines It's Source Material

      In an era where the majority of films released are generally comic-book and franchise-oriented, its nice to see a film that aims to be neither other than just a charming family-friendly adventure, that not only entertains but manages to retain the youthful spirit of its classic source material. Based on the popular Nickelodeon television series titled Dora The Explorer, the film takes place after the events of the television series with young newcomer Isabela Moner in the lead role as Dora followed by a strong supporting cast that includes Eva Longoria, Michael Pena, and Eugenio Derbez. First announced as a live-action film in 2017, the film received its release in the United States on August 9th 2019 under the distribution of Paramount Pictures. The film not only received generally positive reviews from critics but ended up grossing $119 million worldwide, proving to be a success in terms of revitalizing the brand of the show. As a continuation of its source material, Dora And The Lost City Of Gold proves to be a worthy companion piece to the television show while reintroducing both its story and characters to a new generation of audiences.

      The story for Dora And The Lost City Of Gold centers around the character of Dora (Played by Madelyn Miranda as a young girl followed by Isabela Moner as a teen), an adventurer at heart being sent from her jungle home to the city. While staying in the city, she struggles to grasp the complexities of human interactions in an urban environment. She soon finds himself along with her new group of friends being forced back into the jungle in order to rescue her parents from unsavory characters. What seemed like a film destined to fail ultimately turned out to be one of last summers surprise hits, that's both fun to watch while carrying with it doses of heart and charm. The film literally makes audiences feel like young children again with a message that says young kids should be themselves and not choose to be something they aren't. The film doesn't take itself too seriously  as it's designed to appeal to young audiences with cringe-inducing moments, that come along with its fun-spirited nature. Given that the animated show debuted a total of 20 years prior to the release of the film, Dora And The Lost City Of Gold works very well at paying homage to the past while both serving as a parody of the concept, along with reintroducing it to a new generation of young audiences.

      One of the key elements that makes this film work so well is the strong chemistry within its cast of young actors combined with the talents of its adult performers. As far as the acting performances go, Isabela Merced is perfect casting as Dora with her brilliantly conveying her characters social awkwardness as well as her passion for the jungle. She proves to be perfect casting for the main character with both her performance and character being the heart of the film. Jeffrey Wahlberg shines as Dora's cousin Diego, he does a good job of making the audience dislike his character at first with the way he mistreats Dora due to his characters attempts at fitting in with the popular kids in High School. Nicholas Coombe and Madeleine Madden both deliver impressive performances as Dora's friend Randy with Madden having the stronger character of the two as Dora's classmate rival turned friend and love interest to Diego, Sammy. In terms of supporting roles from the older cast, Michael Pena and Eva Longoria work well together playing Dora's parents with both actors adding to the films humor and child-like style. Eugenio Derbez also proves to be effective as the films main antagonist Alejandro, a man claiming to be a friend of Dora's parents but later is revealed to be associated with the mercenaries. The cast as a whole delivers in terms of making the audience care about their characters along with showcasing strong chemistry as an ensemble. The chemistry between the youth actors are spot on and feel natural with the older actors adding both fun and realism to the story. Truth be told, the film wouldn't have turned out as well as it did had the cast not been cleverly put together.

      Another element that makes the film work outside of the performances is the style and tone of the story. The directing by James Bobin proves to be serviceable with the film attaining the right family-friendly style of goofiness mixed with cheese. What makes it so effective with young audiences is the fact that the film never takes itself seriously and plays off childlike imagination, while also finding ways to put a smile on adults faces. Bobin directs the film with it having full knowledge of its past origins, while embracing the absurdity of its concept to maximum potential. Add to that solid cinematography, an exotic jungle location that boasts noteworthy art-set decoration, and a well-balanced pace that moves the film fairly quick without it feeling too rushed nor too slow, Dora and The Lost City Of Gold has the perfect balance of strong acting, directing, writing, and technical elements to make its story come to life in a way that ultimately makes it a fun and enchanting experience for audiences.

      The films screenwriting by Nicholas Stoller and Matthew Robinson deserves points for attempting to be clever while creating a young teenage atmosphere with the story. The jokes for the most part are either hit or miss with the majority landing as hits rather than misfires. The film has the feel of an adventure flick from the 80's mixed with a children's film from the 90's era, making it feel like a kid friendly version of Crocodile Dundee with Dora's character having the same socially awkward presence of Paul Hogan's character when brought into normal society, but remains at the top of their game when returning to their natural habitat. For young audiences, they'll find enjoyment with the story as it has much to offer as being enjoyable. For others though, the story can come across as being cheesy and problematic in certain areas. The character of Dora can either be appealing to audiences with her characters authenticity and desire to bring about change, while also annoying audiences with her constant flow of information regarding facts about the jungle with her insightful naivety. Her character is the heart and soul of the film because of how she's ultimately able to overcome her obstacles both physically and mentally while making friends. Despite Dora's character being socially awkward when she's not in the jungle, her ability to overcome that by the films end serves as being both a hopeful and encouraging model to young children facing similar scenarios minus the jungle action. The side characters are well-balanced and developed fairly well to the point where they feel neither like cardboard cutouts of teen characters, but also don't carry any significant character growth with just enough to bring their characters to life like Dora's. It wouldn't be a complete teen flick without the generic romantic subplot involving Diego and Sammy. The script plays off both the typical and cliched subplots of the young kid friendly genre of films it borrows from along with adventure ones (Hence the subplot involving Alejandro being the so-called friend of Dora turned villain), weaving all the elements of both genres together to bring Dora's story to life in live-action form. The moments where the movie transforms into full-blown animation mode with the characters, are among the films main highlights with the audience getting a taste of nostalgia with impressive animation. While the writing for the film isn't by any means perfect, it manages to overcome it's moments of cheesiness and deliver a fun and appealing young adventure flick that has shades of Indiana Jones, National Treasure, and Tomb Raider thrown into the mix, serving as the scripts strongest aspects along with the strong characterization of Dora.

      What could've easily ended up being a forgotten misfire and box office failure turns out to be one of 2019's surprise hits in terms of actually being a decent film, that's enjoyable for families looking for a break from all the Marvel stuff. The film is well-intentioned and carries with it a strong message for young children, which says that anything is possible if one believes in themselves. The film despite the action-adventure aspect of it's story, is very much about loneliness, acceptance, risk-taking, fitting in, and making friends. These are all themes that speak to young people with the film ultimately projecting a positive message onto them. What separates Dora And The Lost City Of Gold from other films with similar structures is it's heart. It desires to provide fun and adventure for the entire family, while also instilling a meaningful message for today's youth. It also serves as a genius way to bring in a new generation of audiences into the universe of Dora The Explorer. As far as family-friendly adventures go, Dora And The Lost City of Gold is one of the better ones to come out in recent times as well as being one of 2019's surprise hits. It is a film that one doesn't expect much from in terms of actually being decent but ultimately surprises with it's quality.

Final Verdict: For fans of the classic Nickelodeon show as well as those looking for a fun family-friendly adventure with a good message, Dora And The Lost City Of Gold is worth watching.