Kid critic Betty Ordoña’s Dora and the Lost City of Gold review says feels like a kid version of Indiana Jones and it’s awesome!

In the live action version of the TV cartoon, 16-year-old (about 10 years older than in the show) Dora’s parents go searching for a lost city, and they send her to the United States to live with her cousin Diego and his family. So now the jungle-raised Dora is thrust into the frightening wilderness of high school.

Eventually, she and three schoolmates go on an adventure to find her missing parents, facing bad guys and traps and puzzles galore. The Indiana Jones vibe comes from all the jungle trekking, lost treasure, and those intriguing puzzles.

Dora has many humorous points, most notably the meta parts. For example, Dora will often look at the camera and say, “Can you say (blank)?” just as the cartoon character does. The funny thing is that when she says it around the other characters, they take notice and are like, “Who are you talking to?”

The excellent young actress Isabella Moner really becomes that character. She was great in the drama, Instant Family, with Mark Wahlberg, and here shows how funny she can be as the wide-eyed, open-hearted, girl explorer.

I thought the special effects were good, too. The monkey (named Boots), fox (named Swiper, who, you know, swipes stuff), and other CGI stuff looked pretty real.

Michael Peña, who plays the dad, is really funny. I liked the part where Dora’s parents are warning her about the big city and he goes into a detailed version of house music while they are describing raves.

The best part about this movie, in my opinion, is the representation. The leading character is a Latino girl who is really intelligent. She’s often the smartest person in the room. And the second smartest is another girl. That means a lot to young girls – take it from me!

Rated PG

1 Hour 42 Minutes

If Betty’s Dora and the Lost City of Gold review intrigues you, get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

Kid critic Betty Ordoña’s Dora and the Lost City of Gold review says feels like a kid version of Indiana Jones and it’s awesome!

Betty Ordoña is 11-years-old. She loves movies, but loves reading, engineering, and riding her bicycle even more. Favorite films include The Princess Bride, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. She is also an Official LAPL Comic Book Expert and Level 40 Pokémon trainer.