Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado Review
Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado (2025) Film Review, a movie directed by Alberto Belli, written by JT Billings, Chris Gifford and Valerie Walsh Valdes and starring Samantha Lorraine, Danielle Pineda, Jacqueline Obradors, Gabriel Iglesias, Jacob Rodriguez, Maria Cecilia Botero, Mariana Garzon Toro, Valentina Latyna, Scarlett Spears, Tiago Martinez, Acston Luca Porto, Christian Gnecco Quintero and J. Santiago Suarez.
Paramount Plus’ new family adventure, Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado, is nothing short of totally harmless fun. Led by the charming lead performance of Samantha Lorraine as Dora, there are plenty of enjoyable escapades that take place over the course of this brief diversion that will probably be an 11-year old girl’s dream movie to watch. We need more young heroes for our kids to look up to these days and it’s refreshing to see Dora and her cousin Diego (Jacob Rodriguez) develop such a strong familial bond in an adventure film that doesn’t lose the meaning of family values in its attempt to entertain the viewer. Director Alberto Belli’s new picture is slight in some respects and, at times, a bit amateurishly conceived, yet Lorraine holds it all together as the daring adventurer Dora the Explorer.
We meet Dora at the beginning of the movie as a young girl (Scarlett Spears) who is developing a bond with her Abuelo (J. Santiago Suarez) and learning the meaning of how to have fun and embark on adventurous journeys in life. When we skip ahead 10 years, she’s played by Lorraine and ready to go on new journeys, but her map gets destroyed which leaves her feeling helpless. Meanwhile, Diego gets accepted into a school zoology program, but doesn’t tell Dora immediately in order to let her embark on her quest for the ultimate adventure.
Dora gets a job at Jungle World where her idol, Camila (the perfectly cast Danielle Pineda), is one of the supervisors. With good fortune and having fun on her mind, she puts her energy into the theme park tours where fake alligators and the like are thrust in front of a non-enthusiastic audience. Dora puts her heart into the tours, but her co-worker, Naiya (the charming Mariana Garzon Toro), suggests that it may be hard to keep up that enthusiasm tour after tour. Naiya’s unsolicited little assistant, Sonny (Acston Luca Porto), is also at Jungle World as well which initially seems to be to Naiya’s disadvantage.
The film’s plot kicks into gear as our fearless group of young explorers, Dora, Diego, Naiya and Sonny, all get lost on an adventure hunt. Dora loses her backpack in addition to her map, which makes her feel useless. There’s also Dora’s pet monkey Boots (voice of Gabriel Iglesias), who helps guide Dora along the way on an as-needed basis. It turns out they are being followed by a surprising set of baddies led by Camila, of all people, in a major plot twist.
There are a lot of adventurous sequences such as when Diego must listen to Naiya in regard to which exact vine will swing him to safety while hanging from vines in a cave. Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado is an earnest attempt at a family movie and Samantha Lorraine is a real charmer. Jacob Rodriguez is also sincere as Diego while Naiya is played with terrific energy by Toro.
Lorraine’s positive energy is a nice way to keep this family movie feeling upbeat and cheerful even when the action turns unexpectedly negative such as when Dora loses hope and feels ready to give up on her expedition. Diego ultimately reveals the truth about his plan to go to school, but in helping Dora, he could lose that opportunity. Family comes first, always, but there are some nice messages about the need to maintain ambitions and some smart plot developments as the movie reaches its climatic scenes.
Yes, younger audience members will really enjoy watching Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado with their families or even by themselves. There is a lot of the spirit of the cartoon in the new movie and the likable cast carries it through its minor slumps. Tales with positive journeys of self-reflection coupled with fun adventures are always a good way to keep younger viewers entertained and this film will do the trick for young audiences looking for something to stream.
Samantha Lorraine comes across on-screen as a mix of former child actresses, Natalie Portman and Isabela Merced (who played Dora six years ago in the big screen adventure), yet she carries a very distinct personality all her own which will make viewers enjoy taking this adventure with Dora, Diego and company. Consider the new movie to be something like Indiana Jones-ultra lite for younger kids.
Rating: 6.5/10
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