Land of the Lost

Review By: Tom Herrmann
TomHerrmann@TheCinemaSource.com

So it has come down to this… a Land of the Lost movie. It was only a matter of time with the popularity of remaking of retro-television into movies. This isn’t always a bad thing, though, proven by Star Trek. The only problem is that for every Star Trek there is a Starsky and Hutch or Dukes of Hazard to bring the sub-genre down. Soon we will have to suffer through the likes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe; both of which I am nearly positive will break some sort of box office records as well as my spirit, but now I am just ranting.

To start with the incredibly obvious, Land of the Lost is based on the 1970’s TV show of the same name, which has acquired mass cult status despite only running about three seasons. While the show revolved around Rick, Will and Holly Marshall, who were caught in an earthquake and sent to a land inhabited by people in latex suits, chroma key, stop animation, and puppetry special effects, this blockbuster remake is about Will Ferrell making himself look worse than he did in Blades of Glory but not as bad as Semi-Pro. This time around, Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) is a paleontologist who believes in time travel, Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel) is his trusting assistant, and Will Stanton (Danny R. McBride) is some guy who they met at a tourist trap. As shocking it as, while they are on a “routine expedition” they met “the greatest earthquake every known” sending them to the land of the lost.

One thing that was relieving about this was that it wasn’t a serious reboot. It can work for Star Trek, but not for Land of the Lost; the series is just too cheesy. Fans of the series will probably enjoy the incredible amount of homage paid to the second best TV show about dinosaurs (the best, of course being Dinosaurs). The theme song was referenced numerous times, even to the point where Rick actually breaks out a banjo and sings it. The movie also made time for most of the important side characters like Cha-Ka (Jorma Taccone), Enik (John Boylan), The Zam (Leonard Nimoy), as well as Grumpy and the rest of the sleestaks. Minor things were changed, like the three humans not being related to grant use of innuendo among other things, but nothing major has changed.

At this point in the review, it probably seems like Land of the Lost is an enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half, but that is just not true. From the get-go, the movie’s target audience isn’t even clear. The humor at some points is clearly aimed at children but drastically changes back and forth like it has confidence issues. Even though it does have its moments, for the most part the jokes seem shallow and rushed similar to the dialog, and, well, pretty much everything else. ...