Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)

Dora and the Lost city of Gold finds its way to balance making a movie for young kids that also manages to be entertaining for adults by being all wink wink tongue in cheek. Director James Bobin of Flight of the Concords and The Muppets knows how to achieve that. Dora quite appropriately falls on the younger side of the entertainment spectrum being best for elementary school kids the most (probably too intense for toddlers but a little too childish for pre-teens). But it ends up being charming and entertaining enough that adults can enjoy it too.

Sometimes Dora felt like it was trying a little too hard to make the adults laugh. There is a rave joke at the beginning that started out okay but went on a little too long. And really? Raves? What year is this? And Danny Trejo as the voice of Boots and Benicio Del Toro as Swiper are probably the biggest feats of stunt casting I've ever seen. Still, Dora never felt too boring, moving along with its basic but satisfying if predictable plot at a quick pace.

Isabela Moner is a young actor to watch. I've seen her if a few films so far and have always been impressed, often rising above sub-standard material. Here she manages to do a good impression of what a teen version of the classic cartoon character would sound/act like but also making her character feel like a real enough person. 

Little ones will love and their parents won't hate it. But does it have the cross over magic that would let teens and young adults enjoy it ironically or with a nostalgia for their childhoods? Hmmm, not sure. I'm not convinced it pulls of that trick.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold
Starring: Isabela Moner, Eugenio Derbez, Michael Pena, Eva Longoria, Jeff Whalberg, Benicio Del Toro, Danny Trejo, Temuera Morrison
Director: James Bobin
Writers: Nicholas Stoller, Matthew Robinson