Dora and the Lost City of Gold, too much nostalgia in the backpack

I’ve never seen an episode of Dora the Explorer. I was familiar with her talking backpack, can-do attitude and educational elements through pop culture, but missed watching that period of Nickelodeon on TV. Because of that, I’m not brining any memories or baggage, be them good or bad to this review. The film reminds peoples about the difference of a film being good, entertaining or both. As a film, it’s entertaining, but it’s not very good, yet, I didn’t dislike the film either.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold is rated PG and has the action, mystery and humor that elementary kids want to see. This incarnation of Dora has her as a teenager in high school and not the 7 year-old that audiences remember her from on television. That was a wise move as it opens up the film to many more people who would not have accepted a CGI Dora. This fact certainly also saved them some money when it came to production costs.

To adults the film borrows heavily from Indiana Jones. It doesn’t matter which one because there were traces of each film in Dora and the Lost City of Gold. The soundtrack in the film was good, but also felt borrowed from those films. The only thing missing was Dora saying “snakes, why did it have to be snakes”, to make the inspiration more transparent.

Dora grows up in the jungle with Diego until they’re about seven years-old and then he moves to Los Angeles. She stays there for 10 more years until her parents have to go searching for a lost city, supposedly made of gold.

The advertising for the film did an excellent job. It’s the sole reason why a nine year-old who has never seen Dora wanted to see the film. It does bill itself as a very kid friendly Indiana Jones, albeit with a backpack and monkey best friend.

The kids enjoyed the movie well enough, but it didn’t leave an impression on them. When I asked them if they liked the film they both said yes. When I asked them what they liked about it they couldn’t say anything and there were no laugh-out-loud moments or action sequences that kept them on the edge of their seats.

For me the film was forgettable, but one that I really couldn’t dislike. Part of that is due to Isabela Moner who portrays Dora. She’s enthusiastic, packed with energy and makes the formerly 2D character her own. The other reason is Eugenio Derbez. He’s a manic comedian with fabulous facial expressions that lights up just about anything he’s in.

Ultimately Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a missed opportunity. It’s certainly full of charm, but not enough to be memorable. The film seemed lost between wanting to establish nostalgic connections with existing fans and creating an older story line that would allow it to demo up. In the end, it’s Tomb Raider lite, very lite, that will be entertaining for deeply nostalgic high school students and elementary kids.