DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD
A JAMES BOBIN FILM
STARRING ISABELA MONER, EUGENIO DERBEZ,
MICHAEL PEÑA, EVA LONGORIA AND DANNY TREJO
IN CINEMAS 19 SEPTEMBER 2019
Running time: 102 mins
‘Dora and the Lost City of Gold’ written by Nicholas Stoller and Matthew Robinson and directed by James Bobin is based on the adventures and characters of the hit Nickelodeon children’s series ‘Dora the Explorer’.
This film sees a teenage Dora (aged up from how she appears in the show) as she has to leave her life in the Peruvian jungle behind and live in LA with her cousin Diego as her parents go on a expedition to find the hidden Inca city, Parapata. However, after losing contact with her parents for many weeks, Dora, Diego and their friends set off on a journey to find them.
This film was directed by James Bobin. Bobin’s writing and directing career is filled with iconic titles such as ‘Da Ali G Show’ and ‘Flight of the Conchords’. More recently, Bobin has directed some of the most iconic family films of the last decade. This includes ‘The Muppets’, ‘Muppets Most Wanted’ and ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’. He also has a film in production based on the backstory of the popular 1966 action figure, Action Man.
‘Dora and the Lost City of Gold’ has an cast filled with beloved names including Michael Peña an Eva Longoria as Dora’s parents, Danny Trejo as Boots the Monkey, Benicio del Toro as Swiper the Fox, Jeff Wahlberg as Dora’s cousin, Diego and Isabela Moner as Dora. This cast has previously been seen in films such as Instant Family, Transformers: The Last Knight, Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Overboard (2018) and the Spy Kids franchise as well as many episodes of television shows such as ‘The Flash’, ‘Blue Bloods’, ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’, ‘Rick and Morty’, ‘Empire’, ‘Jane the Virgin’ and ‘Dora and Friends: Into the City!‘.
This film is a clever adaptation of the children’s series that both lives up to and subverts expectations of the franchise. It has a lot for anyone who has enjoyed any of the series in the Dora cannon as well as having jokes for those adults who have noted the more absurd aspects of the series over the years. It is an entertaining adventure for the whole family from beginning to end.
Review by Edmund Bleakley
