Dora the Explorer hits the big screen and quite frankly, it’s great!

Opening with a young Dora (Madelyn Miranda) and Diego’s (Malachi Barton) adventures before showing us Diego leaving for the big city we then fast forward ten years to a Dora (Isabela Moner) who may be an expert Jungle explorer but who doesn’t know the first thing about high school politics. When her parents (Eva Longoria and Michael Pena) stop checking in whilst on their quest for the lost city of gold Dora enlists Diego (Jeff Wahlberg) and new friends Sammy (Madeleine Madden) and Randy (Nicholas Coombe) to help her find them.

For any parents who have enjoyed/endured watching Dora the Explorer with their children I am here to tell you this is an amazing family film. The film makers have embraced all of its idiosyncrasies and turned them into a joyful child friendly Indiana Jones like adventure. They take great pleasure in poking fun at Dora’s Spanish lessons, the fact that Swiper the Fox (voiced by Benicio Del Toro) wears a mask and that Dora has a talking map and backpack. Perhaps given that The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted creators Nicholas Stoller and James Bobbin are writing and directing should have tipped me off to this irreverent take on the characters.

The story beats include Dora being a fish out of water in the city, her friends doing the same in the jungle, the perils of fitting in and accepting who each other is and the importance of family. All of this is wrapped in some great humour and fun adventuring through ancient civilisations with an infectiously positive Isabela Moner in the lead role. Oh and Danny Trejo as a talking monkey.

A must watch for families this summer.