What a lovely family adventure movie! It was so refreshing to watch after many movies filled with profanity, violence and sexuality. I had a smile on my face the entire time, from start to finish. It made you feel good. It made you laugh, a lot. It was just a thoroughly enjoyable movie. That’s rare these days. Even rarer was that the puzzles in the movie were actually well done. Even better than Tomb Raider and that’s saying something.
I’ve never seen Dora, the cartoons, only heard of them. Though I now know what they look like because of a scene in the movie that briefly shows off the animation. Our titular character is played with poise and grace and just phenomenally acted by Isabela Merced (former stage name Moner). She was immediately likeable and you can’t help but smile at her presence on screen. She’s definitely a star. Her costars also deserve praise even if their characters were caricatures. Two of the animals are voiced by well known actors and they’re just great little surprises.
The plot itself is more like magical realism. Yes it takes place in the real world but at the same time, there’s a mysticism to it all. From her companion Boots, to the talking fox named Swiper, and even to the fantastical city of gold that they’re searching for. It’s like the writers were inspired by Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull but they wanted to make a good movie instead. So they nitpicked all the best elements and applied Dora to it.
Several scenes were quite entertaining and sometimes had me in stitches. It was just so funny. The jokes all nail their target audience but there’s also jokes for adults in there. Like the ending with her parents, that was incredibly funny. Speaking of her parents, they were played by Eva Longoria and Michael Peña and both did a good job for the roles they had to play.
I definitely recommend this movie to all ages, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. I’d love to watch it again with friends and family.
Bogdan's Review Blog 