Rating: 2/5 Watchable
Some things should stay lost.
Like the movie's main characters the movie itself is lost in some sort of temporal rift. It's been marketed to appear to be a family adventure movie. This is not a family movie. It earns it's rating (PG13) and is closer to an "R" rating then a "PG". Despite the crassness of the humor it is still rather sophomoric bathroom humor and sexual innuendo. So ultimately I'm not sure who this movie is looking to appeal to.
Dr. Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) has been laughed at by the scientific community because of his theories on traveling to alternate dimensions. One day he is approached by Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel), a Cambridge educated scientist who was kicked out of the program because of her belief in Marshall's theories. The two build the machine that Marshall designed to harness the energies allowing one to travel to alternate dimensions. The two of them go on a routine test in a cave where these energies are strongest. This area is part of a guided tour led by Will Stanton (Danny McBride). The test is successful. So successful in fact, that this unruly bunch is sucked into a dimension where our past, present, and future seem to meet. In this place the three meet Cha-Ka (Jorma Taccone) who appears to be from a race of missing link like monkey people. The three hopeless castaways must battle dinosaurs, giant bugs, and sleestaks (a race of lizard people) to find their machine and get back home.
Ferrell plays the buffoon well, but this is not news. We've seen it before and this time is not particularly inventive or creative. His character reminds us of those Saturday Night Live skits that go on far longer then they need to. Friel is decent but her character is mostly a prop for sexual humor. If you've seen her in Pushing Daisies you are well aware that she is capable of more. It's disappointing to see her first real mainstream role be such a misuse of her ability. McBride is easily the funniest part of this film as the sexist redneck tour guide. McBride's character is not new to us, it's just like his Kenny Powers (Eastbound & Down), but since the character's humor is based on quick gags and one liners as long as it's clever it's still funny.
Overall, the humor is laugh out loud funny at times but totally hit or miss (mostly miss). The effects are reminiscent of the 1970's TV show but not in an homage way. They don't look like 70's effects done with modern equipment, more like modern effects done with a low 70's budget. The plot is unnecessarily convoluted. Even the actors seem uninterested in which sleestak did what to who. This film had plenty enough plot with the travelers trying to find the machine to get them home. The whole film is too exaggerated, too ridiculous, and too much of the same thing. If they had cut out the adult humor this movie may have been passable as a fun afternoon for older kids, like the new Night At The Museum. If they had been a bit more clever with it's humor and a bit more interesting with it's plot, it may have had a good appeal to the adults who liked the show when they were kids. Instead it's stuck somewhere in between and it's a horrible place to be.
Land Of The Lost at IMDB
93 minutes
Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, and for language including a drug reference.
My Statement Of Purpose
About Me
- Thomas
- Just a movie theater manager who has worked every job in a theater over the last decade with particular focus in projection and presentation of 35mm films. The views and opinions expressed in these blogs are solely my own and no reflection of any theater or company I have worked for, or am currently working for.
2 comments:
Well said. Although I haven't seen it - the trailers had no effect on me; in fact, just looking at them had me THINKING it was going to be poorly written and one of those "let's cram as much stuff as possible in here even if it makes no sense" kind of screenplays. And for some reason, I'm starting to get annoyed with how over-the-top Will Ferrell goes to promote his films. I know his stunts have been hilarious in the past, but now it just annoys me. I will, however, go see The Hangover this weekend. I know exactly what I'm getting: Zach Galifainakis in skivvies.
The parts where Zach is in skivvies is the tame parts of The Hangover, but you're right on that being what you get. That was my biggest beef with Land of The Lost they billed it with a Elf feel but instead gave us another Anchorman with dinosaurs.
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