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  • Movie Review: Land of the Lost
  • Rating: PG-13
  • Running Time: 1 hr. & 33 mins.
  • Starring: Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Anna Friel, Jorma Taccone and John Boylan
  • Written By: Chris Henchy, Dennis McNicholas
  • Directed By: Brad Silberling
  • Distributor: Universal Pictures
  • Series:

LAND OF THE LOST

This Lost Expedition's Just a Little Too Routine

By Rob Vaux     June 04, 2009

 

The question of Land of the Lost's commitment to the source material quickly becomes irrelevant. It lacks sufficient strength of purpose to be either faithful or unfaithful to anything. This is the sort of film that exemplifies Hollywood's sausage factory ethos: assembled from disparate parts that can be mixed and matched in any conceivable way and still turn out the same basic product. It's a ostensibly a comedy because it stars Will Ferrell, but swap him out for say, Mark Wahlberg, and suddenly you have a serious family adventure without effectively altering a thing.
 
That versatility makes for easy filmmaking but an exceptionally bland final product. The cult children's TV show on which it is based merely serves as fodder for name recognition, and while it includes all the same elements--dinosaurs, Sleestak, a plucky simian sidekick named Chaka (Jorma Taccone)--it uses them only as an excuse to foist empty special effects on the screen.
 
The basic scenario remains the same, though the players exist here in name only. Discredited "quantum paleontologist" Rick Marshall (Ferrell) has a theory about time warps which no one believes. Inspired by plucky grad student Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel) he undertakes an experiment at a New Mexican roadside attraction run by skeevy redneck Will Stanton (Danny McBride). His theory proves correct and the trio are sucked into an alternate universe, there to spend the remainder of the film being chased by a T. rex named Grumpy and the aforementioned lizard-like Sleestak.
 
Admittedly, it's tough to fault Land of the Lost for not taking any of it seriously. The TV show was pretty darn goofy, despite its earnest charms, and Farrell certainly has the right to poke fun at it. But the film goes about its task with such a feckless lack of enthusiasm that its overall intentions fail to matter. The jokes are utterly generic, centered around Marshall's puffed-up attempts to assert his authority and crude gags of the fondled breasts and dinosaur poop variety. The particulars of the parallel universe itself seem almost an afterthought: something pretty to toss up on the screen so that Ferrell doesn't have to perform to a brick wall. CGI gives a boost to the craptacular effects of the TV show, and the script trundles out a perfunctory nod to the theme song, but there's very little heart in any of it.
 
Indeed the film's slipshod assembly suggests nothing more than generic pieces stapled together, an event film by committee whose components were altered and adjusted until nothing remained but empty shells. The bland, generic tone sabotages the film both as an adventure and as a comedy, failing to lend it suitable energy for either. Which is truly a pity. Whatever its flaws, the original series was certainly one-of-a-kind, with a unique world to explore and concepts which, in the right hands, might have become fascinating popcorn fun. Director Brad Silberling has a deft touch with alternate realities--witness his gleeful take on A Series of Unfortunate Events--and might have brought this one to life much more readily than he does here. The shots of ice cream trucks, motel swimming pools and similar chunks of our world scattered about an alien landscape possess a lovely sense of the surreal, and the comically slow-moving Sleestak could easily make for great adversaries.
 
As it is, however, no one felt the need for anything more than a by-the-numbers effort… least of all series creator Sid and Marty Krofft, who serve as producers here and clearly didn't have any compunctions about selling out for a paycheck. If they don't care, then it becomes more difficult for us as an audience to muster much interest in it either. Land of the Lost probably won't kill you, and Ferrell's a skilled enough comedian to produce the odd chuckle or two, but the material here needed more care and effort infused into its bones. Otherwise, it bears too much resemblance to the detritus jumbled across its frame: patchwork components trying vainly to form a cohesive whole.
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gauleyboy420 6/4/2009 1:44:43 PM

AWwwwww, breast grabs and dino poop jokes...I LOVE IT!!! Why does everything have to be so G*dd*mn cerbral...

 

So glad I'm not a movie reviewer so I can enjoy movies

everdreaded 6/4/2009 3:07:37 PM

I wonder about how desperate hollywood is for scripts when i see adaptions like this...lol.

If it's all about money heres a suggestion...

ELECTRAWOMAN AND DYNAGIRL..STARRING  Angelina Jolie and Hayden Panettiere

..there Holywood..I just made you a 50 mil opening weekend..GIMME MY DAMN ROYALTIES UP FRONT!

shac2846 6/4/2009 3:12:02 PM

That's funny Gauley because I was thinking the exact opposite. There's so much stupid brainless bullshit that's come out lately ( Wolverine, Fast and Furious, Terminator Salvation) and that's going to come out (Transformers, GI Joe, and this shit) we need more good movies. Cerebral or not. Why are people faulted for not wanting to check their thinking cap at the door when they walk in. Especially after paying $9 bucks a ticket.

I still think the critics call it like they see it, for the most part. This is a stupid movie, already had a chance to see it, the reviewer called it.  

Hobbs 6/4/2009 3:45:55 PM

I'm actually surprised you reviewed this Rob.  You were clearly uphappy with the Wil Ferrel version last week.  I like some of your reviews but when its blatantly obvious you don't like something I don't think you can give an objective opinion thus you shouldn't review.  Just my two cents.  Personally I have no desire to see this in the movie theater but I'll probably rent it.   

miko34 6/4/2009 4:52:57 PM

"...series creator Sid and Marty Krofft, who serve as producers here and clearly didn't have any compunctions about selling out for a paycheck."

Sid is nearing 80 and Marty is 72.  I doubt they thought too much of the paycheck and more just wanted to see their show make it to the big screen.  They were probably really impressed with the movie.  Look at the show from the 70s ... the graphics and makeup alone must've impressed them.

You can't really pitch this show to be a serious movie unless you're Spielberg or someone of that caliber and even then ... it'd be tough.  Both series (70s and 90s) didn't last very long on TV and the only way the money people would feel comfortable in making it would to make it a family comedy adventure.

The main problem was who they chose to write it.  Dennis McNicholas and Chris Henchy seemed like random throws at a giant dartboard of available writers.  They haven't done anything like this before.  You need the right writer just like you need the right casting.  These just weren't the right fit.

Cacaoatl 6/4/2009 5:27:08 PM

The movie is terrible -- so? The source material was no prize either. I've recently re-watched it as an adult and it is the corniest thing ever.

miket@jartrealestate.com_home 6/4/2009 6:27:43 PM

 I think Land of the Lost should have been done as a serious movie. Look at Brandon Fraiser's Journey to the Center of the Earth, that would have been a perfect Land of the Lost movie. Fraiser could have been Rick Marshall. Look how well that movie did.

 I'll be catching this on HBO, I don't think Will Ferrell is very funny and I'm not wasting $9.00 on this crap, and Cacaoatl, if you could see past the low budget FX and mostly weak acting on the TV show you would find some great stories. I've been rewatching Land of the Lost on SyFy and it's actually better than most crap on TV right now.  

miket@jartrealestate.com_home 6/4/2009 6:32:35 PM

I forgot to add, I'm going to see The Hangover. Now that movie looks funny.

LittleNell1824 6/4/2009 7:28:35 PM

I watched Land of the Lost episodes on SciFi, too. (Is it already SyFY?) The acting and special effects were beyond laughable (They used a barbie doll to illustrate Holly falling down a hole. Hilarious).

But, there were times that I could imagine Captain Pickard doing the dialogue and some of the stories seemed right for TNG. The Land of the Lost wasn't the "past" - it was an enclosed system that was regulated by power stations (pylons) and controlled by some mysterious group for some mysterious purpose. There was a dead and dying civilization, crystal technology, proto-humans, having to live in a hostile environment where most plants were poison- it was cool stuff for kids in the 70's (like me). Yes, it was corny (it was a kid's show) but it had some great science fiction writing.

I would have loved to see a serious version - I agree that it could have been like Journey to the Center of the Earth. But the Will Ferrell version will be fun. I'll take my nephew.

shadowprime 6/5/2009 6:51:17 AM

 

I took something a bit different from the above review - that the LAND OF THE LOST Movie simply wasn't FUN. I defer to the reviewer to explain (if he chooses to!) , but my sense is that the complaint is simply that the movie lacks any kind of style, direction, tone, etc, and as a result comes off as bland and generic and ultimately "empty". If true, too bad.

Shadow

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