Land of the Lost was released in 2009. (same year Sherlock Holmes came out) It received negative reviews from critics and failed to break even at the box office as a result of “The Hangover” becoming the number one comedy of the year. Land of the Lost won a Razzie Award for “Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel.” Will Ferrell signed on to co-star with Margot Robbie & Ryan Gosling in an upcoming live action film adaptation of “Barbie” slated to come out on July 21st, 2022, alongside Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated 12th film, “Oppenheimer.” Danny McBride is working on “Halloween Ends” and a third season of “The Righteous Gemstones.”
Today’s review contains no SPOILERS. Feel free to read my non-spoiler article. I’m gonna come clean, I’m not a mega fan the original Land of the Lost show. I’ve seen a couple episodes prior to seeing the film. I thought it was mediocre. Is the film horrendously bad? Let’s find out, shall we?
Polished & Rusty Qualities
Polished: Will Ferrell, Danny McBride & Anna Friel all did a decent job for their respective performances.
Fun Fact: Will played a character named, Marshal Willenholly in “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” He and Kevin Smith are fans of Land of the Lost. His character is a play-on-word of the opening lyrics to the theme song.
Brad Silberling (Casper, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortune Events) did a solid job directing the film.
Will’s former business partner Adam McKay served as an executive producer.
Will’s fellow collaborator Chris Henchy (The Other Guys) wrote the script.
Humor has a bunch of out loud moments. My favorite joke is the final scene. If you know what I mean.
Cinematography never succumbed to a bad case of Shaky Cam throughout.
Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles, Star Wars: Rouge One, The Batman) orchestrated the soundtrack.
Special Effects are a hit and miss. Practial Effects were used to build certain elements of the titular world.
Set Pices were manually constructed by set decorators.
Sleestaks retain their classic look from the show. At least they’re more accurate than King Piccolo in “Dragon Ball Evolution.”
An extreme close-up of Grumpy’s mouth is a nod to opening credits from the show.
Chemistry between Rick, Will, Holly & Chaka serves as the main highlight.
Rick sings the theme song. Which is played for laughs.
One scene shows Rick & Will sing “Believe.” Back in 2009, Cher was working on a musical film with Christina Aguilera called, “Burlesque.”
Bobb’e J. Thompson (Role Models, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) makes a cameo appearance as a student.
My favorite line is… “MATT LAUER CAN SUCK IT!” Totally deserves Bonus Points as one of the best movie quotes of 2009. Eight Years Later, the tables have turned now that Matt got booted out on The Today Show. Meaning, Rick finally got his revenge.
Leonard Nimoy has a voiceover cameo as Zarn. J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” came out in 2009 with the original Spock crossing paths with a young Captain Kirk. Speaking of which, Rick mentioned Kirk.
Rusty: Green Screen Effect is often noticeable. Again, the effects are a hit and miss.
The Climax felt really short.
A Mid-Credits Scene was supposed to set up a sequel. Sadly, it never came into fruition. Because it didn’t recoup expenses.
The Final Verdict: B, FOR BRIGHT!
Although I’m not a mega fan of the show, Land of the Lost is not horrendously bad as critics say. I really enjoyed it. I understand some longtime fans hate the film including Univeral CEO Ron Meyer, the original creators Sid & Marty Kroft, I see it as one of my guilty pleasures. If you’re a non-fan of Land of the Lost like me, it’s worth your spare time.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 