Dora and the Lost City of Gold Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Dora and the Lost City of Gold Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf December 12, 2019

In 2000, “Dora the Explorer” made its debut on Nickelodeon. The show was aimed at preschoolers just getting their bearings with language, with the titular host offering mild look-and-find adventures with help from her monkey pal Boots, various items of survival gear, and Spanish. Perhaps trying to age up the material to reunite with the original generation of viewers, “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” brings the character into her teenager years, replacing simple tasks with more sophisticated adventure puzzles and real-world struggles of acceptance. Dora’s pluckiness hasn’t been sacrificed in the transition, with star Isabela Moner delivering a pitch-perfect performance as the grown-up version of the animated character, helping to secure the lively, silly spirit constructed by director James Bobin (“The Muppets”), who does an impressive job redefining Dora for older audiences.

Raised in a South American jungle, Dora (Isabela Moner) is one with nature, joined by her monkey friend, Boots (Danny Trejo), as she goes on her daily adventures in exploration. Raised by her professor parents, Elena (Eva Longoria) and her Father (Michael Pena), Dora is smart and fearless, riveted by tales of a lost city containing golden treasure. However, to help round-out her education, Dora is sent to Los Angeles for the school year to deal with socialization skills, living with her beloved cousin, Diego (Jeff Wahlberg). Unaccustomed to the ways of teenage behavior, Dora is hit with the reality of cruelty, eventually making connections to overachiever Sammy (Madeleine Madden) and dim-wit Randy (Nicholas Coombe). Losing phone contact with her parents when they set out to find the magical city, Dora, Diego, Sammy, and Randy are kidnapped by mercenaries searching for the treasure. Rescued by family friend Alejandro (Eugenio Derbez), the gang is stuck in the thick of the jungle, with Dora taking charge as she seeks to reclaim her mom and dad, avoiding dangers and the thieving ways of Swiper (Benicio Del Toro), a sticky-fingered fox.

“Dora and the Lost City of Gold” is self-aware, almost reaching points of parody as it tries to make sense of a live-action reworking, striving to establish Dora’s plucky ways as a child, giving Bobin a chance to showcase the character in her most familiar incarnation. However, the talking map, backpack, and fourth-wall breaking is part of her imagination, with the real Dora a happy kid in the jungle, living it up in her backyard, joined by Diego and Boots as they experience high adventure in the wilds of their minds. Dora eventually matures into a real daredevil, using a GoPro to capture her interactions with animals and certain doom, with indefatigable bravery pushing her to find evidence pertaining to the lost city, desperate to join her parents as they investigate location clues. It’s a lively opener, but one that’s missing a full sense of transition, with Dora quickly sent away to Los Angeles, suddenly forced to deal with a situation alien to her daily experience: high school.

The screenplay (by Nicholas Stoller and Matthew Robinson) takes special care of Dora’s experience in Los Angeles, keeping the innocence of the character while enjoying her preparedness (she has a long-term survival kit on her at all times), which is attacked by classmates who dismiss her dorkiness. While Diego is embarrassed by his cousin’s antics (including animal-style dancing at a Halloween party), Dora remains herself, offering impressionable audiences a wonderful depiction of self-esteem and intelligence, with the explorer happy with who she is, but aware that others don’t understand her. The high school experience is a small part of “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” but it does offers decent laughs and a proper bonding experience for the four kids before they’re collected during a museum tour and deposited in a jungle.

The wild is a second home to Dora, only now she has classmates and Diego with her, and they bring their own baggage to the trek. “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” is filled with slapstick, mostly from Derbez as the hapless rescuer, but there’s plenty of weirdness too. The picture’s only real PG- rated business concerns Sammy’s reluctance to have a bowel movement in the middle of the jungle, inspiring Dora to help relax her rival with a song about her “poo shovel.” And the team finds their way into a strange land of oversized flowers, soon hit with a blast of hallucinogenic pollen, allowing Bobin a chance to revisit the animated world of “Dora the Explorer” as cartoon antics briefly take over the feature. For a film that’s not terribly strong with action in the first half, bizarre encounters do the trick, helping to disrupt expectations and keep the movie on the go, offering entertainment to all ages before the treasure hunt heats up.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation deals with a bright, colorful world for "Dora and the Lost City of Gold," and fine detail comes through with sharp facial surfaces, picking up on wear and tear, and jungle particulars. Textures are also welcome on costuming, preserving a fibrous feel for adventure wear. Distances are dimensional throughout, and intentionally cartoonish CGI is displayed in full. Colors are the highlight of the viewing experience, exploding with crisp primaries on clothing, keeping Dora's pink-and-orange ensemble distinct, and jungle greenery is lush. Golds are appropriately pronounced throughout. Skintones are natural. Delineation is secure, capturing evening activity. Some mild banding is periodically detected.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 7.1 Dolby TrueHD sound mix secures an active listening experience for "Dora and the Lost City of Gold." Surrounds are engaged throughout, exploring separation and panning effects, including some interesting arrow movement and rolling logs. Atmospherics are lively, isolating jungle activity and high school bustle, giving presence to group gatherings, including a school party. Dialogue exchanges are direct, securing comedic intent and balancing moments of panic, never slipping into distortive extremes. Scoring is supportive with defined instrumentation, carrying moments of action as well. Low-end is eager, contributing welcome rumbles to jungle encounters, including stampeding elephants, while the temple finale delivers plenty of weight and stone movement.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Bloopers (2:12, HD) showcase numerous flubbed lines and giggle fits.

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (12:35, HD) are basic character trims, but what's interesting here are the unfinished visual effects, highlighting rough looks at Boots and Swiper.

• "All About Dora" (8:40, HD) is a making-of featurette, detailing the labor that went into the story, characterization, and updating the world of "Dora the Explorer."

• "Can You Say Pelicula" (4:33, HD) examines the appeal of Eugenio Derbez, with the actor sharing his reactions to stunt work and his favorite moments from the film.

• "Dora in Flower Vision" (4:16, HD) details the specifics of the mid-movie animated sequence.

• "Dora's Jungle House" (3:45, HD) is hosted by Isabela Moner, who takes a tour of Dora's home, with production designer Dan Hennah and set decorator Kathryn Lim sharing their creative visions for the project.

• A Theatrical Trailer has not been included.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Dora and the Lost City of Gold" saves its bigness for the final act, where the kids are faced with several puzzles as they enter an ancient temple. There's a lot of "Indiana Jones" in the picture, and the material really comes alive when focusing on teamwork and Dora's heroism, giving set pieces some welcome snap. This is still a comedy, with a masked fox popping up periodically to take something that isn't his, but adventurous happenings are more energetic, allowing Moner to own a difficult part, and she plays Dora's innocence and authority with real gusto. While it's certainly not a home run, "Dora and the Lost City of Gold" manages to pull off a difficult challenge of adaptation, eschewing straight-up nostalgia to create a new vision of "Dora the Explorer," allowing her to grow up but not lose her sense of curiosity and courage.