Land Of The Lost

Review by Anthony Morris

The original Land Of The Lost TV series is the kind of show that is best left in the past. 

It was fun for it's time, but cheap special effects and fairly forgettable plots mean that pretty much the only thing worthwhile about Land Of The Lost today (if you're not on a nostalgia jag) is the basic concept.

Essentially, a bunch of folks from today stumble into another world where pretty much anything can happen so long as it involves dinosaurs, ruins, and fairly lame lizardmen called Sleestaks. 

So the good news here is that that's pretty much all of the original this film retains.

Dr Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) is a washed up laughing stock after getting into a fight with Matt Laurer on the Today show over his theories about getting energy from rips in time and space. 

But when fellow scientist / love interest Holly (Anna Friel) shows up at the primary school where he is now teaching disinterested kids about his Tachyon Amplifier, it inspires him to cut back on the snack foods and build it for real.

Turns out the nearest local source of tachyons is a rubbish "mystery cave" tourist trap run by Will Stanton (Danny McBride), and before long the trio find themselves in a strange new world full of... well, you get the idea. 

This is pretty much just the recent Journey to the Centre of the Earth only sillier and with a man-ape sidekick (Jorma Taccone), which is a good thing when your story mostly involves the cast running from dinosaurs or being captured by Sleestaks. 

Ferrell and McBride do a fair amount of riffing but it mostly works, especially as the film itself never really seems to be taking things all that seriously, while the special effects combine the cheesy original with today's top-of-the-line CGI to good effect. 

The only question is, who's this film actually for? 

The jokes would go over the heads of little kids, teenagers are off watching robots fight, and Ferrell and McBride's brand of comedy is readily available in more concentrated doses. 

Don't be surprised if this falters at the box office (as it already has in the USA)... and then does surprisingly well on DVD in a home smoking environment.

3 out of 5

Land Of The Lost
Australian release: 11th June, 2009
Official Site: Land Of The Lost
Cast: Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Anna Friel
Director: Brad Silberling