Synopsis: In Land of the Lost, Dr. Rick Marshall travels to an alternate world when his time travel device unexpectedly works.
Release Date: June 5, 2009 MPAA Rating: PG-13
Genre(s): Comedy, Action Adventure
Film Review
Production
So much for a comedy-adventure movie that is fun and entertaining. Land of the Lost is quite boring and lacking in the comedy but heavy on the violence. It relies almost completely on the star persona of Will Ferrell to carry it along but with a script that gives him little, if anything to work with, the viewer is left with barely anything to take from the movie except regret.
Special Effects
The main attractions in Land of the Lost, special effects wise, are the dinosaurs. They do have a cartoonish appeal but the CGI is impeccable. The slight cartoonish nature falls in line perfectly with the rest of Land of the Lost and quite frankly the best parts of the movie involve the moments with the dinosaurs for they are moments of excitement and thrills. You do get other instances of effects but they in no way stand out for the viewer. They simply come and go with the story without a second thought.
Sound
There are some major problems with sound mixing in Land of the Lost. It is obvious that ADR was used for certain action scenes because of the quality of sound levels in the editing. At one moment it is of a moderate and agreeable level for dialogue; the next cut brings fast action onto the screen and suddenly the sound level rises dramatically and is far too crisp and clean to match what is happening on screen. The levels are clearly off and if you are sensitive enough to hear the difference it will bother you; luckily it does not occur all that frequently, just enough though worth mentioning.
Production Design
The creation of this Land of the Lost has been executed wonderfully. From an old drive-in movie theatre, a Bob’s Big Boy statue alone in the desert, a nostalgic 1950s ice cream truck, or The Golden Gate Bridge enveloped in the sand there is always something to feast your eyes upon and make you realize this actually is a world united by multiple dimensions of time and space. It is a pure world of wonderment in a forsaken desert where all appears to be calm and collective but evil lurks around any corner.
Comedy Factor
If your idea of comedy is a variety of sexual gestures and innuendo, and drug use references, you may find Land of the Lost funny. Do not expect much from these moments though for they are used as filler due to the fact that there is little more to the film that would furnish laughter from the audience. The jokes are just plain stupid, and appear to be geared at an individual who has little capacity for mature comedy; making the rating for the film of PG-13 (USA) never more appropriate. The only real thing worth laughing about in Land of the Lost is that you bought a ticket for it.
Cast and Crew
- Director(s): Brad Silberling
- Producer(s)/Screenwriter(s): John Swallow, Chris Henchy, Dennis McNicholas
- Cast: Will Ferrell (Rick Marshall), Anna Friel (Holly), Danny McBride (Will Stanton)
- Other Crew: Peter Teschner, Dion Beebe, Bo Welch, Mark Bridges, Michael Giacchino
- Country Of Origin: USA
