A goldmine of fun
Film follows teenage Dora and friends on trip to find lost Inca city
Isabela Moner and Benicio del Toro of “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” are reunited in “Dora and the Lost City of Gold.” It may sound odd, but Moner played the daughter of a cartel head in “Soldado,” while del Toro reprised his role from the first “Sicario” film. Now, Moner is the teenage Dora in “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” while del Toro voices the swiping, masked CG fox known as Swiper.
A genuinely fun, if not always perfect mix of liveaction and CG characters, “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” is a film adaptation of the 2000 Nickelodeon educational, animated series “Dora the Explorer.” After enjoying an idyllic childhood in the Peruvian jungle (the film was shot in Australia and the U.S.) with her professor parents (Eva Longoria and Michael Pena), Dora, who is likely to wear a real boa around her neck, is sent to Los Angeles and the home of “primo,” aka cousin Diego (Jeff Wahlberg), to experience high school among contemporary, cellphone obsessed, mean kids.
Soon, Dora, who has been ostracized, and Diego, the easily frightened nerd Randy (Nicholas Coombe) and bossy know-it-all Sammy
(Madeleine Madden) are kidnapped by mercenaries looking to find the lost Inca city of Parapata and its enormous cache of gold. The mercenaries have Swiper, the talking fox wearing the unnecessary mask, to help them. In the Peruvian jungle, which is Dora’s element, Dora, who is likely to dance or break into song at any moment and is accused of “mindless positivity,” is reunited with her beloved CG monkey Boots. After finding her parents’ uninhabited campsite, Dora and the young people embark on an adventure-filled journey to find the mysterious Parapata with her parents’ friend and ancient language expert Professor Alejandro Gutierrez (Eugenio Derbez).
With her dark brown bangs and blunt cut hair, backpack and occasionally talking map, the film’s Dora has the iconic look of the animated character. Moner handles the film’s singing, dancing and physical action with aplomb and brings considerable expressiveness to the role. Seldom has being a dork seemed so charming. In many ways, this is “Indiana Dora and the Lost City of Gold” with the same sort of plot, action, twists and special effects. In one sequence reminiscent of “Alice in Wonderland,” giant flowers emit a powderlike gas, and all the characters turn into animated versions of themselves. English director James Bobbin (“Alice Through the Looking Glass”) and the writers keep things light and moving along. There are occasional lessons in Spanish vocabulary and Inca history.
As the mysterious academic, multi-faceted Derbez (“How to Be a Latin Lover,” “Overboard”) is a big plus, bringing an impressive bag of comic tricks to the role. Danny Trejo voices Boots, who speaks English in one scene, but mostly makes monkey sounds. That is Isela Vega of Sam Peckinpah’s “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia” as the old witchlike forest woman and Q’orianka Kilcher of “The New World” as the Inca Princess. “Dora” is full of surprises.
(“Dora and the Lost City of Gold” contains some scary action and poop jokes.)