Well this was one movie that was pretty intriguing. I know about the popular character from children's animated series and they decided to make it into a live version. Obviously I wanted to know how they could pull this off. As it did not play in the nearest theater from my home, we had to go a little bit further just to catch the 6.45 PM show. Anyway, I will just start on the movie now.
Brief Story Line
Dora (Isabela Moner - Instant Family, Transformers: The Last Knight etc) had been living in the jungle with her parents Elena (Eva Longoria - Desperate Housewives TV series, Visions etc) and Cole (Michael Peña - 12 Strong, The Lego Ninjago Movie etc) for many years. When her parents seemed to went missing while searching for the lost city of Parapata, Dora with her cousin Diego (Jeff Wahlberg - Future World etc) and other high school students Sammy (Madeleine Madden) and Randy (Nicholas Coombe) were somehow unintentionally caught in the middle of a "mission" to look for Elena and Cole.
With a long time family friend Alejandro (Eugenio Derbez - Instructions not Included etc) and Dora's best friend Boots the monkey, the group went into the jungle of Peru while trying to solve the mystery of the ancient Inca civilization.
With a long time family friend Alejandro (Eugenio Derbez - Instructions not Included etc) and Dora's best friend Boots the monkey, the group went into the jungle of Peru while trying to solve the mystery of the ancient Inca civilization.
So how would the story proceed? Find them all in this super fun family friendly movie.
End of Brief Story Line
For many years the cartoon series of Dora the Explorer had been playing on Nickelodeon Cable TV channel and was dubbed into Indonesian language which made it even more popular for Indonesian audience. My wife was one of the fan of this cartoon while I never watched a complete episode and only saw glimpses few times, though I knew about her "magical" backpack, her friend Boots, cousin Diego and especially that map. Even her hair style was so popular that some young girls hair was cut to her model by their parents.
Anyway, when the live version movie had been promoted, my wife and I were quite surprised that Dora was portrayed by a teenage girl instead of the young girl we used to know from the series. But after we saw the movie, we decided that the story was actually told in a wonderful manner that we were not disappointed at all. Especially because despite played by a bigger person, we could still picture Isabella Moner as the real teenage Dora. Not only from her physical appearance or her classic pink T-shirt plus shorts and wearing backpack, but by way of her characterization. And besides, the movie also had tons of references from the cartoon series. One particularly nice surprising moment was in the middle where it would really bring the nostalgic feeling (you would know which part I am talking about if you had seen the movie).
Aside from the amazing Dora, it was also wonderful to see lots of funny moments that arise from Dora's interaction with the teenage Diego and also with the other high school students. One particularly fun character was definitely Alejandro who provided a lot of amusing moments. Oh and there were even the voice characterization by Danny Trejo (From Dusk Till Dawn, Storks etc) and Benicio Del Toro (Sicario: Day of Soldado, The Usual Suspects etc).
The special effects were pretty decent for a movie with modest budget and the lost city visualization was quite good. But the nicest effects for me would be the creation of Boots the monkey and Swiper the fox which brought lots of fun when brought to life. The sound effects were pretty awesome for a standard Dolby 7.1 where I could feel the arrow blazing sounds perfectly like I was in the middle of it. There were quite a lot of nice music and songs as well. There was no mid or end post credit scene, though there was some fun singing scene during the early part of the closing credit.
Overall this was a really fun movie for all ages. I think fans of the series would have better attachment with the film, as long as they keep an open mind on the teenage Dora. It was safe for children being the target audience and enjoyable for adults as well (by the sound of many laughter in the cinema in many scenes). There was a cut scene by Indonesian censorship which probably due to many children were expected to see this. My wife also enjoyed the film a lot with her multiple comments and chuckles. As long as you like to see family friendly adventure with the popular and amazing cartoon characters came to live, then you should be entertained by the film. But do not expect this to be entirely intense and suspenseful like Indiana Jones type of adventure movie, it is an all ages movie after all. So if you want to have fun, just see this film. Do not over think or over analyze it and you should be fine.
Happy watching!
Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Anyway, when the live version movie had been promoted, my wife and I were quite surprised that Dora was portrayed by a teenage girl instead of the young girl we used to know from the series. But after we saw the movie, we decided that the story was actually told in a wonderful manner that we were not disappointed at all. Especially because despite played by a bigger person, we could still picture Isabella Moner as the real teenage Dora. Not only from her physical appearance or her classic pink T-shirt plus shorts and wearing backpack, but by way of her characterization. And besides, the movie also had tons of references from the cartoon series. One particularly nice surprising moment was in the middle where it would really bring the nostalgic feeling (you would know which part I am talking about if you had seen the movie).
Aside from the amazing Dora, it was also wonderful to see lots of funny moments that arise from Dora's interaction with the teenage Diego and also with the other high school students. One particularly fun character was definitely Alejandro who provided a lot of amusing moments. Oh and there were even the voice characterization by Danny Trejo (From Dusk Till Dawn, Storks etc) and Benicio Del Toro (Sicario: Day of Soldado, The Usual Suspects etc).
The special effects were pretty decent for a movie with modest budget and the lost city visualization was quite good. But the nicest effects for me would be the creation of Boots the monkey and Swiper the fox which brought lots of fun when brought to life. The sound effects were pretty awesome for a standard Dolby 7.1 where I could feel the arrow blazing sounds perfectly like I was in the middle of it. There were quite a lot of nice music and songs as well. There was no mid or end post credit scene, though there was some fun singing scene during the early part of the closing credit.
Overall this was a really fun movie for all ages. I think fans of the series would have better attachment with the film, as long as they keep an open mind on the teenage Dora. It was safe for children being the target audience and enjoyable for adults as well (by the sound of many laughter in the cinema in many scenes). There was a cut scene by Indonesian censorship which probably due to many children were expected to see this. My wife also enjoyed the film a lot with her multiple comments and chuckles. As long as you like to see family friendly adventure with the popular and amazing cartoon characters came to live, then you should be entertained by the film. But do not expect this to be entirely intense and suspenseful like Indiana Jones type of adventure movie, it is an all ages movie after all. So if you want to have fun, just see this film. Do not over think or over analyze it and you should be fine.
Happy watching!
Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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