 "Photo: MCT Campus")
So far this summer moviegoers have been treated to many good films, including Disney’s “Up,” “Terminator: Salvation,” and “Night at the Museum 2.” However, the latest big-budget film to hit theatres is nothing short of a major disappointment. The film we are referring to is the new movie starring Will Ferrell and Danny McBride –star of HBO’s “Eastbound and Down”– titled “Land of the Lost.”
We got a chance to see this PG-13 film, which runs for 101 minutes, and our expectations were left unsatisfied. Moreover, we were left sadly concluding that perhaps Ferrell has truly become a major ‘hit and miss’ actor/comedian.
Loosely based on the original 1974 TV series created by Sid and Marty Krofft, we were left hoping that the series wasn’t as laughably put together as the film. Director Brad Silberling needs to know in the future that there is a pitfall to be avoided when combining comedic sci-fi movies with incurably outlandish actors such as Will Ferrell.
The result is that the entire movie will come off as a spoof, the sort of farcical film where even the actors themselves seem to be find the plot ridiculous. This is exactly what happened in “Land of the Lost.” For example, –don’t worry nothing in this review is a surprise in the plot so if you haven’t seen the movie I’m not spoiling anything– the device used in the film to time-travel is a “tachyon accelerator”, a term stolen from various other sci-fi plots; which in itself is no big surprise or scandal.
However, Will Ferrell will never be able to pronounce such scientific words without appearing foolish and awkwardly unbelievable.
In fact, a “tachyon accelerator” was not actually used in the original TV series, though they did copy the same time-portal image idea, that of a giant waterfall. What is upsetting is how this 2009 film failed to integrate, develop, or characterize any of the elements they created new and specifically for the film adaptation.
Instead, they chose only enough elements from the TV series to provide wild content such as giant waterfalls, lizard people and a tyrannosaurus rex named Grumpy. What was brought new to the 2009 adaptation was unsatisfying and transparent, typical and boring.
This is true throughout the entire movie except for one scene involving three men and a tree with gourd-like fruits that when imbibed produce a drug-like euphoria. This culminated to homoerotic spooning using mini-towels in lieu of proper shorts. That scene is a prime example of the movie’s inability to successfully teeter on the line between appropriate and inappropriate content for a PG-13 rated film.
For years Ferrell has been known for his own brand of off-color and sometimes slapstick comedy. It has worked really well for him (starting with his days on “Saturday Night Live” where he made a name for himself) and through his ongoing movie career.
His humor has worked really well in some hits like “Anchorman” and “Talledega Nights.” However, in those it seemed as if Will and the rest of the cast weren’t afraid to take their comedy as far as they needed to for laughs.
That is what brings us to “Land of the Lost,” and how Ferrell and McBride fail to reach that level of comedy. They seem to want to perform mostly family-oriented jokes throughout the film, while trying to throw in some adult jokes here and there.
That does not work for a Will Ferrell comedy as he is not a not a family-movie star, nor does his unique brand of comedy lend well to this style of movie. Additionally, Ferrell cannot seem to stay away from his R-rated style humor, which had to be awkwardly stifled in this semi-family film.
For example, the ‘F bomb’ is clearly, dramatically, and emphatically mouthed though not audibly uttered, and sexual content, both via innuendos and explicit, is prevalent.
In our personal opinion, the tyrannosaurus rex was by far the best actor and character, just to give you an idea of the rest of the cast. The odd mixture of R and PG humor was baffling, but we laughed at it just barely enough.
All in all, we could easily suggest about 5 other activities you could spend the same $9.50 per ticket on and have a better time.
2 comments
-As for Hangover I just saw it today and I agree with you (on how funny it is (and a review is being written as we speak.)Thanks for the feedback though!