Land of the Lost (2009)

I love the idea being this Land of the Lost comedy, and oh my god is the execution on set design, costuming, visual landscape, and CG/practical effect blending excellent. It all looks great, brimming with character and fun design choices.The comedy alternates wildly between very genuinely funny, and floppy, all dependent on Ferrell, Friel, and McBride's improv delivery. I really enjoyed the banter for the most part - it just feels organic and fun, and moves at a quick enough pace that you're not rolling your eyes when a joke doesn't land. It IS that quippy style of comedy, though, so you basically need to go into LotL expecting the characters to be clowning around nonstop for the duration of the adventure. It's just improv actors having fun in a comedic role with a very self-aware plot - I'm very happy they went all the way, and built the comedy around the actors.Action is generally very fun and well-presented, with the camera-work keeping everything in-frame and clear without getting chaotic. Again, I cannot say enough good about the way this movie looks and plays out.No real complaints beyond a few recurring jokes that don't really land - the showtunes gag in particular didn't do much for me, and I get slightly annoyed by how (for the first half of the movie) Friel's character's just there to have McBride make crass jokes at and Chaka to grope. She does really come into her own during the second half, though, so eh, not that big a deal.A good, fun movie.

"Land of the Lost" TV series was meant for kids of the 1970s, and wasn't real deep entertainment, just a simple adventure show. It actually made it to syndication, and where it achieved some notoriety, it never made it to "cult status" so to speak. So why on Earth make a comedy out of it?I'm not a big "Land of the Lost" fanboy, ergo I'm not all that offended by a comedy made of it, but just on kind of a basic principle of taste, why turn a children's adventure show into a raunch comedy that isn't all that funny in the first place?Those of you who've read my previous reviews you know my opinion on Wil Ferrel's comedy (or lack of it), which makes one wonder why he or his agents thought making this movie was a good idea.Land of the Lost was just another Kroft Saturday morning show, although it was probably their more sensible show, and as an avid watcher when I was a boy, it didn't deeply resonate with me, though I did like it. I never got deeply into the show, so I didn't buy any of the schlock that the so-called producers were peddling (and quite frankly, I don't remember all that much "Land of the Lost" merchandise). And I think that's true for most kids who watched this show. So why on Earth was this film made in the first place? Someone thought there was enough of an audience that would pay to see an alleged "send-up" of a children's show. Someone, somewhere, thought it was a good idea. Huh.A better film would have been to pay homage to the original TV series, and perhaps aim it at kids as opposed to creating some embarrassingly unfunny film, starring an actor who isn't that funny in the first place. Regrettably this was not the case, and what we have left is a very high budget film with a lot of gloss and not much else. I think maybe I laughed once, but perhaps guardedly so. Fortunately I didn't help flip the bill nor work on this very poor film. If you're going to make a comedy, then at least have a reason for doing so, and put some smarts into the thing. I mean "Land of the Lost" is a product of the 1970s, but "The Goodbye Girl" this thing ain't. Which is even more baffling since "The Goodbye Girl" was aimed at the same adult age bracket, but had more drama and funnier moments than anything Wil Ferrel and his team could conjure."Land of the Lost" may have been shot on the cheap like a lot of Kroft productions, but that doesn't automatically make it a subject for humor. Sure, we can probably poke fun as it as adults, but "Land of the Lost" was made for children who liked dinosaurs. How come a movie for kids who like dinosaurs couldn't be made?One wonders.

For fans of Anna Friel, Land of the Lost is bearable, the actress cavorting around in a small pair of red shorts and a tight vest, showing off her toned legs, occasionally bending over to give a glimpse of butt or cleavage; I can't imagine anyone else being entertained by this steaming turd of a movie, not even the most desperate of Will Ferrell fans (I don't usually mind the bloke, but here he's about as funny as a collapsed lung).Ferrell plays quantum-paleontologist Dr. Rick Marshall, inventor of the Tachyon Amplifier, a device capable of creating doorways to parallel dimensions. When he and pretty 'groupie' Holly Cantrell (Friel) test the machine, the pair are sucked into an alternate universe (along with redneck tour-guide Will Stanton, played by Danny McBride), where they discover ferocious dinosaurs, primitive apemen, and an advanced race of reptilian aliens intent on conquering the Earth.Based on a '70s TV series, the sloppy plot is meandering, mindless nonsense, the CGI/green-screen work is diabolical, and the whole affair is completely unfunny, despite Ferrell's best efforts (the actor coating himself in Hadrosaur urine and Tyrannosaurus poop in his desperate quest for laughs). Which leaves us with Friel looking hot and having her breast fondled. Which is something, I suppose… (and the only reason I'm giving this 4/10 instead of 1/10).

Pompous palaeontologist Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) makes himself a laughing stock in an interview with Matt Lauer. Three years later, he's approach by Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel) who has been following his research. They go an expedition to a mysterious cave which is run by Will Stanton (Danny McBride) as a roadside attraction. They get sucked into another world. They rescue Chaka who is about to be killed by other primitives. They eventually encounter the Sleestaks and escape to Enik the Altrusian. Enik explains that the evil Zarn is looking to take over the universe.I've got a feeling that people either wanted the old kids TV show or got tired of Will Ferrell. That doesn't stop me from laughing at some really fun gags. Comedies are the easiest to judge and hardest to explain. I laughed at this ridiculous parody. Therefore I judge it to be funny. I can't intellectualize the reason why. It's stupid and funny.