The Lost City of Z

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland, Edward Ashley, Angus Macfadyen, Ian McDiarmid, Clive Francis
Directed by: James Gray
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Drama
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A British explorer (Charlie Hunnam) risks everything to find a lost city in the midst fo the Amazonian jungle in the early 20th century.

Review:

Tim: I was interested in seeing this film. I have the book, but I haven't read it yet. I also heard good things about the movie somewhere. So, when I sat down to watch it, I was ready to go. Hollywood doesn't make nearly enough adventure movies for my taste. Director James Gray delivers a good movie, but this is a film that isn't nearly good enough to support its 2 hour, 21 minute run time. This is a long movie that's simply not compelling enough. It's good, but it's not that good.

The story is fairly interesting. A small British team of explorers travels to South America and explores uncharted territory. Along the way, they learn of the supposed existence of a lost city. We see this team of explorers in the jungle, returned home, and back in the jungle again. The story is a worthwhile one. It's fascinating to watch these characters in the midst of a deadly jungle- dangers lurk around every bend of the river. There are murdering tribes, poisonous snakes, problematic weather, etc. There's no shortage of ways the jungle can kill you, and yet these characters persist. It's an entertaining story.

Charlie Hunnam is quite good in the lead role. It might be a step or two below award worthy, but it's still a strong performance. At moments we truly like his character, but at others, we question his judgment, He plays him like the real character he was, not a typical Hollywood hero. I thought his performance was nuanced and effective. I loved seeing Robert Pattinson here. It was refreshing to see him as far away from the Twilight movies as you can get. I loved that his supporting turn here was small but important. He gives a good performance in the role. Sienna Miller was as bland as she ever is. Like every movie I've ever seen with her in it, she adds almost nothing and makes zero impact on the film. I did love seeing Tom Holland here. While I wish he had a bigger role, his performance was solid. He's going to be a really good actor. I also liked seeing Angus Macfadyen in an important, albeit thankless role. He really did a good job.

The cinematography was quite solid here. The scenes of the jungle are impressive. While no moments are jaw-dropping, it does feel like you're in the wild. The scenes back in England are a nice departure from the jungle ones. It gives the movie a nice sense of toggling between civilization and the wild. While the movie works, the whole thing does feel too long. There's too many scenes that feel unnecessarily drawn out. The characters are interesting, but never as compelling as they need to be. The jungle scenes are fun, but there's never a sense of overwhelming suspense. We care, but we aren't riveted by anything on screen. That might be less of an issue in a shorter movie, but in one as long as this, it eventually wears on you. We see our characters go to South America, back to England and try to adjust to family life there, back to South America, back and forth. It's what happened, so it's the story that needs to be told, but eventually it feels like we've taken this trip before. Certain aspects of the journey are completely skipped over, so we lose a bit of the feel for how arduous this journey really was. By the time the movie ends, rather than a rousing conclusion, it feels a bit exhausting. The movie loses steam a bit at the end and doesn't go out on the highest point. That hurts the movie.

While a flawed film, The Lost City of Z is still a different, entertaining movie featuring strong performances from the cast. I enjoyed the movie and while I don't really see a need to ever watch it again, I'm happy I sat down to watch it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: In the Heart of the Sea, King Solomon's Mines, Apocalypto