If you have a bunch of eight-year-olds over for a sleepover and you’re looking for something to stick on the TV, you could do worse than this straight-to-streaming live-action adaptation of the animated show Dora the Explorer. It’s a follow-up of sorts to Dora and the Lost City of Gold from 2019, with a new star in the shape of Samantha Lorraine, and aimed at slightly older kids than the cartoon. There are action sequences looted from Raiders of the Lost Ark that had my eight-year-old squealing at the screen, though as it’s determined to be undemanding and inoffensive, it’s got that plasticky quality that middling kids’ films tend to have.
Lorraine plays Dora, a teenage explorer who’s grown up in the Amazon, raised on her grandfather’s stories about the Incas. For years, Dora has been searching for clues to find Sol Dorado, a legendary golden sun that will grant one wish, joined by her cousin Diego (Jacob Rodriguez). The scriptwriters deserve credit for resisting the temptation to bolt on a love interest; instead, we have cousin Diego in the role conventionally given to a female character: the pretty but non-essential sidekick.
The movie’s villain is celebrity archaeologist Camilla the Crusader (Daniella Pineda) who runs a theme park called Jungle World, where Dora and Diego have summer jobs. When the pair go off in search of Sol Dorado with their pals, Camilla dispatches a band of desperadoes to chase them through Inca tombs booby-trapped with giant bugs and spiked floors. The movie is not lacking in adventure, perhaps what’s missing is a sense of fun. Dora didn’t have the kids hooting with laughter like they did at the real Indiana Jones.
• Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado is on Paramount+ now.
