Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)
Directed by James Bobin
Dora, a girl who has spent most of her life exploring the jungle with her parents, now must navigate her most dangerous adventure yet: high school. Always the explorer, Dora quickly finds herself leading Boots (her best friend, a monkey), Diego, and a rag tag group of teens on an adventure to save her parents and solve the impossible mystery behind a lost Inca civilization.
7 connections found
View:
7 films that influenced Dora and the Lost City of Gold
What critics say influenced Dora and the Lost City of Gold
While Dora and the Lost City of Gold doesn’t reach the fourth-wall breaking heights of Deadpool, Enchanted, or even the underrated and to-this-day misunderstood Josie and the Pussycats movie, the tone fits this version of the character well.
Pulling off this tricky feat at the center of it all is the actress playing Dora herself, the magnetic Isabela Moner, whose performance is reminiscent of Amy Adams’ thoroughly delightful work in “Enchanted.”
The result is a cross between Donkey from the Shrek series and Amy Adams’ Giselle in Enchanted .
Taking cues from everything from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to National Treasure , Dora and the Lost City of Gold is an immensely satisfying adventure.
The phrase “most remarkable” here is meant to imply that Dora becomes either a loving homage or a straight-up rip-off of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
As usual in modern family fare, there are a few too many scatological gags, and the climax won’t fool anyone who’s ever seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade .
It’s reminiscent of adventure franchises like Indiana Jones and National Treasure as our heroes decipher clues in pursuit of the end goal.
Taking cues from everything from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to National Treasure , Dora and the Lost City of Gold is an immensely satisfying adventure.
The Indiana Jones-style high jinks that ensue don’t quite have the visual verve or breakneck pacing of a “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” or even a “National Treasure,” but they’re invigorated by the film’s cheekiness.
The movie is relatively weak in this department, serving up “National Treasure”-esque riddles and “Goonies”-like water slides for kids too young to have seen those movies.
Then again, the film doesn’t hesitate to just let Swiper walk like a human (since he walks like that in the show), so it falls into a strange middle ground that reminds me of Space Jam .
Advertisement
If that sounds like a pretext for a snappy, self-parodying TV-to-film adaptation — something in the vein of “21 Jump Street” or “The Dukes of Hazzard,” perhaps — think again.
The best franchise reinvention since 21 Jump Street .
Now, whilst I haven’t experienced the show per se, I’m aware of many of its quirks and audience participation-type temperament, so the humour derived from director James Bobin (The Muppets) and writers Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Matthew Robinson (Monster Trucks) highlighting the program’s material wasn’t lost on me and set the tone for what followed; whilst the production team have an adult-skewered background they keep most of the comedic material appropriately PG, although some left-field moments such as when the characters trip on pollen and briefly imagine themselves as cartoon characters showcase their risque brand without compromising the film’s integrity.
The MVP here is writer-director James Bobin and co-screenwriter Nicholas Stoller, two of the main creative forces behind "The Muppets" feature-film revival in 2011 with Jason Segal.
In another sequence, director James Bobin ( The Muppets ) cleverly utilizes animated versions of Dora and Diego that hearken back to the original series, and Sammy takes issue with the fact that Swiper wears a mask — “why does that fox need to remain anonymous?”
Because look: Lost City is directed by James Bobin, who directed the marvelous retro kiddie reboots that are The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted (though he also directed the atrocious Alice Through the Looking Glass ).
We’ve seen this before from director James Bobin (Flight of the Concords) and co-writer Nicholas Stoller who successfully reinvigorated an old franchise with The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014).
It also enables director James Bobin to incorporate the unique style of comedy that appeals to all ages – a key element that made Bobin’s The Muppets successful.
The mercenaries also inadvertently kidnap Diego, as well as their classmates Sammy (Madeleine Madden, Picnic at Hanging Rock ) and Randy (Nicholas Coombe, Midnight Sun ).