Land of the Lost

Starring: Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride, Matt Lauer, Bobb'e J. Thompson
Directed by: Brad Silberling
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Science Fiction
2009

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Dr. Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) and two companions (Anna Friel, Danny McBride) fall into a time warp, landing in the land of the lost, where they battle a tyrannosaurus rex, Sleestaks, and much more. They soon realize they must stop an evil force from trying to conquor not only the world in which they currently find themselves, but their world as well.

Review:

Tim: I really don't know who this movie was targeting towards. It feels like a teenage-focused movie, but much of the humor is directly related to adults. This movie feels like it's all over the place- it is confused about its identity, which results in one of the most unappealing movies I've ever seen. I could never get interested in the movie, the plot, the characters, or the silliness. This is simply a weak effort all around.

The movie looks to capitalize on two things- humor, and the special effects. The humor is decent. There were a few moments which were really, really funny. Ferrell's humor always manages one or two hilarious moments, no matter how stupid the rest of them are. I don't believe that Will Ferrell's brand of humor worked as well in an adventure sci-fi. There seemed to be a disconnect there. The special effects are pretty good. The T-rex looks fairly impressive, and I liked the look of the Sleestaks. However, this movie felt like it placed too much emphasis on the special effects- they might be good, but they aren't mind blowing, and they do not save this movie in the least.

Will Ferrell does indeed give a performance with his usual amount of energy and fun. He obviously enjoyed the role, and that always helps a movie. However, I never bought him as any kind of scientist, even a kooky one. He seemed wrong for the role, and as a result, this is one of his more forgettable characters. I really did like Anna Friel- I thought she brought a level of sophistication and class to the role and to the film. It definitely needed her presence. I also really enjoyed Danny McBride. McBride is almost always hilarious, and he has some terrific lines in this film. These three actors work very well together. The problem is that the script wasn't doing them any favors. I also thought the entire involvement of Matt Lauer was completely pointless. It felt like these scenes were put into the film solely to get at the "Matt Lauer can suck it" joke, which wasn't even that funny. This was evidence of what a mess this movie turned out to be.

Land of the Lost is a movie that was shackled by the question of whether it was even necessary in the first place. It never manages to answer that question. It felt unnecessary, silly, and a waste our time. I will admit that this movie wasn't as bad as I expected it to be, but it was still a major disappointment, and there are good reasons why this was a box office failure. The blame goes around to almost everyone involved in the production, but Ferrell has to shoulder some of that blame. I appreciate him changing things up a bit and appearing in a different movie than usual, but it just doesn't work here. While this movie was good for a few nice laughs, it is good for little else. I wasn't much of a fan, and I am only thankful it wasn't any worse.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



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