Dora and the Lost City of Gold: an adventure in and of itself

Images courtesy of IMBD.com

I’m pretty exhausted from all the recent half-baked movie remakes if I’m being honest. So while I dragged my twelve-year-old sister to the 10 p.m. showing of “Dora the Explorer,” all I could think to myself was “this better be the best dang movie I’ve ever seen.”

 In reality, the entire experience felt something like a lucid dream of all the forgotten memories of my childhood. I found myself laughing at Dora’s never dulled smile and her constant dance breaks, but not enough to justify the $12 movie ticket. 

Dora was such an unpopular choice for 10 p.m. on a Wednesday that workers actually thought the theater was the empty — which I didn’t find out until I realized I’d been staring at a black screen for a full twenty minutes and went to check. When I finally found an employee the movie began, but without any sound. After 15 minutes, I finally had a movie with sound to enjoy over my half-empty popcorn bin, so I guess my image of the movie may be clouded by some theatre mishaps. 

The movie had every token character a PG-rated adventure needs: the boy who only wanted to be popular but gave it up for his friends, the know-it-all girl who decides that teamwork is always best, the nerdy guy who saves the day, and Dora, the girl who only wanted a friend to go on adventures with. 

Despite Dora’s relatable social awkwardness, something about being raised alone in a jungle by her parents for 16 years skyrocketed her self confidence. And there were more than enough random song breaks. I don’t mind a song or two to break up the awkward teen dancing scene, but a one-man-band singing about their walk to school is a little unsettling.  

I will say I was pleasantly surprised that at least for once the actors actually looked their age. I wasn’t left sitting there wondering how the 30-year-old actor is somehow supposed to be playing the 16-year-old. Everyone in the movie looked like a somewhat accurate depiction of what four high school students look like.  

I’ll admit the plot did surprise me. I definitely didn’t expect Dora to go off on her own into an Egyptian crypt only to get kidnapped with her three friends — meanwhile, no one tried to alert their parents of their impending doom.  It was at this moment that I realized I was not laughing with the movie, but at it. Either way, I was laughing the entire time. 

There were many puzzling yet laugh-inducing parts, but my favorite would have to be Dora and Diego walking through a flower patch only to have the pollen send them into hallucinations. At this point in the movie, everything went animated and the older guardian accompanying Dora on her journey took off all his clothes and ran away, which was quite possibly the strangest scene I have ever seen. 

While “Dora the Explorer” on the big screen may not have been worth a hefty $12, it was an experience I don’t think I’ll ever forget. But if I were you I’d wait until it’s available to rent for 99 cents on iTunes.