Dora & The Lost City of Gold- Would you enjoy it? Keep reading to find out!
To Know Before You Go:
Movie: Dora and the Lost City of Gold
Rating: PG
Age Suggestion: 6+
Running Time: 1 hr 45 min
Release Date: August 9th,2019
Stars: 4 out of 5
Themes: Being Positive, Responsibility, Friendship, Greed, Learning, Joy, Adventure
Warnings: This movie is extremely family friendly, the worst “word” is shut-up and poop. The scariest scenes are exactly what you would expect from the previews- some scary jungle exploring scenes.
Quick Summary: Dora’s all grown up and so are her adventures. Her parents send her to concrete jungle for her next great adventure. While you can take the girl out of the jungle, you can’t take the jungle out of the girl. A wild field trip brings Dora and her friends on an adventure no one saw coming and we finally get to see if Dora really is a great explorer.
Who Would Enjoy This Movie?
If you have any feelings at all towards episodes of Dora you watched… through your kids, babysitting, friends kids, pop culture, or if you grew up with the show and you can appreciate some good comedic timing- we’re sure you will get a laugh or fifteen from this movie. It really is a great end of summer movie, one that I would absolutely stream again with friends for a good laugh.
Discussion Questions:
1) What did you think the funniest scene was?
2) What was the coolest science/history fact you learned?
3) What was your favorite thing that came from the cartoon that was in the movie?
4) Dora realizes that sometimes even when you are surrounded by people you feel lonely. Do you ever feel lonely even in a big group of people?
5) Dora feels like she can’t be a great leader or explorer because she’s ‘just a kid’. Do you ever feel like you can’t be brave or lead because you’re a kid?
6) Dora stayed positive all the time. Even when people were making fun of her and when things seemed scary. Do you ever have a hard time being positive? Do you think staying positive helped her?
7) What did you think of all the songs? Do you know anyone who sings randomly all the time?
Reviews: **Light Spoiler Beyond This Point**
**Another spoiler warning**
Characters & Acting:
We loved how they developed the characters. Transitioning Dora from a pre-school cartoon to a live action teenager could have been awful- but they did a remarkable job. It honored what you liked about the original cartoon (and what you didn’t!).
We thought the movie was very well cast. Each of the main characters had a truly hilarious moment. The comedic timing was excellent. There seemed to be a fun chemistry in between the ‘kid’ actors too. There were some funny scenes that were also serious, and the actors did a wonderful job at making every scene believable.
Script & Story:
Dora is actually really funny, educational, and enjoyable for kids and adults, something I don’t think anyone thought was possible! The references to the cartoon were well timed, well placed, and undistracting. They knew that Dora was very well known for being annoying and the script embraces that!
An excellent balance of having serious moments, great teaching moments, and hysterical moments. The moral lessons were really well done! Especially that having a positive attitude is not naive. Even though Dora was cheery and looked on the bright side, she was realistic and chose to be true to herself regardless of others opinions. I think that is a wonderful and incredible thing to teach children and adults alike!
Film Quality:
Personally, I wasn’t a fan of how often they zoomed in on one characters face- but I realize that it was a nod to the cartoon. The jungle scenes and the city of gold were all amazingly beautiful.
We absolutely loved the way that they brought the cartoon into the movie!! It was a brilliant scene that really worked visually and didn’t distract from the plot of the movie.
Favorite Moments:
-Our favorite moments were really seeing each other and the kids behind us react to different things on screen. This is definitely one to watch with friends.
-The adults trying to explain things to the kids were all great moments.
-When they first all landed in the jungle- all of those initial scenes of the teens exploring together were really funny and well done.
-We loved how they tied in the cartoon, especially with the animated scene!
-The dance number at the end of the movie was so perfectly cheesy.
Other:
Dora taught me that that you can’t change or control other people’s attitudes, you can only change and control your own. Even though people looked down on Dora for being different, she stayed true to herself and it made her into a stronger, better person! It even brought people to her- she made friends because she was herself. Even though they made light of it, positivity, being genuine and kindness shone through in this movie.
Overall- we think Dora is an inspiring (something I never thought I would say), laugh your booty off, great end of summer movie!
What to check out next:
-If you enjoyed Dora you might enjoy Detective Pikachu, The Netflix interactive show You Vs. Wild, The Descendants, The Kid Who Would be King, or Carmen SanDiego
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