LAND OF THE LOST review by Mark Walters

I found myself walking out of the new LAND OF THE LOST movie saying "It was better than I thought it was going to be." I then realized later that same night that's not saying much. In all honestly, the early teasers and trailers for the update of the classic Sid and Marty Kroft series from Saturday morning TV past did very little for me. I should also note I was only a casual fan of the original series anyway, though I understood the promise a feature film could hold. Maybe part of the problem is Will Ferrell. I used to be a big fan of his, dating back to his Saturday Night Live days, and one of my favorite guilty pleasure films, A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY. But in recent years Ferrell has become a repetitive characature of himself. Films like BLADES OF GLORY or the rather unfunny SEMI-PRO make me wonder if he has anything more to offer than what we've seen so many times from him before. I need Will Ferrell to impress me, and remind me why I liked him to begin with. Will LAND OF THE LOST do the job?



The story follows Dr. Rick Marshall (Ferrell), a disgraced theorist who's hypothesis on time and space is embarassingly mocked by Matt Lauer during a Today Show interview gone bad. Three years later, Marshall now spends his time trying to convince school kids that his theories are sound, and even they don't believe he knows what he's talking about. When an enthusiastic (and apparently lone) fan of Rick's named Holly (Anna Friel) shows up in the classroom, it gives him a bit of motivation toward finishing a time/space machine he's worked on off and on over the years. The two eventually decide to test it out, and head to a rundown desert theme park run by Will Stanton (Danny McBride). They head into the river ride, activate the machine, and soon find themselves transported into another world, surrounded by familiar things throughout history (like National landmarks buried in sand), and no so familiar historical creatures, such a dinosaurs. This world is a distorted one, and filled with dangerous peril. But the machine has been lost, and it looks as if these three folks may have no way to get back home. Time for the unproven Dr. Marshall to show just how smart he really is.



The first thing I noticed while watching this film in a packed theater was the large number of parents with young children in the audience. Let me tell you, this really is NOT a kid's film. There's multiple uses of cursing, including the dreaded "F" word in one scene, not to mention sexual humor, and some not so subtle drug references. This feels like a film that was made for the kids who watched the original series, and are now grown up, but it's not a film for their kids, at least not in my opinion. The movie is filled with nicely done special effects, which is definitely its strong points, and an effective score by Michael Giacchino (STAR TREK, LOST). Even director Brad Silberling (LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS) does a fairly good job integrating the action and wild effect shots, and at least produces an interesting-looking result. But as a film, it's just not that great. Is that to say it sucks? No. There are a few really fun scenes, and the film itself is weird enough to be worthy of Sid and Marty Kroft fans' tastes. There are very imaginative moments, such a giant crab getting boiled and eaten by our heroes, complete with a giant lemon. And fans of the classic series will get plenty of the Sleestaks here, those hissing and rather slow-moving lizard creatures, who Silberling decided to keep as guys in suits (a decision I for one liked). But all the things that work in this film are surrounded by things that don't. Ferrell is only marginally likeable, and never really comes across as the guy you truly want to see succeed. As a spectator in his journeys, I felt kind of indifferent toward his fate. Anna Friel (PUSHING DAISIES) is not bad as Holly, though it's hard to imagine why should would be convinced, much less attracted, to a buffoon like Marshall. Danny McBride restrains himself from stealing the scene, though it's likely he could have with ease. His portrayal as Will is more indentifiable and realistic that almost every aspect of Will Ferrell's performance. I was afraid of that too, as I like McBride a lot, and worried that putting him up against Ferrell in a sidekick role may endanger Ferrell's acting. One thing I liked was the way that the script went out of its way to include all of those classic elements from the original show, such as the smart Sleestak named Enik (John Boylan), Chaka the ape-like boy (Andy Samberg's writing buddy Jorma Taccone), and even that bothersome T-Rex which is quite a character himself. While I enjoyed many of the elements in the film, I just couldn't get into the characters. This could be blamed on many things, poor choices for actors, poor writing, or possible a director not bringing out the proper performances from his leads. Whatever the case my be, LAND OF THE LOST was only marginally entertaining to me. It's not a horrible film, but it could've been so much better.

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