This is something new we’re going to try, called Atomic Team Reviews. We’re going to have two writers cover one film and give their overall thoughts and scores as a way to not only give varying opinions on one film but at the same time prevent the site from being flooded with twenty reviews of one flick. The first guinea pig in this experiment is Land of the Lost which will be reviewed by myself and Erik Buckman.
PHILIP BARRETT: The thing that needs to be understood going into Land of the Lost this weekend is that it throws things at the audience and expects them to either take it or leave it. By all means, this is a terrible film that embraces the cheese of the TV show it was based on. Many will complain the film is all over the place and they’re right. How movie goers react to this film is going to depend on which ones are turned off by it’s outright wackiness or those who accept it and try to have some form of a good time with it.
ERIK BUCKMAN: It all comes down to Will Ferrell. He’s one of the most polarizing actors in movies today. You’ll be hard pressed to find a moviegoer who is passive on the guy. If you find Ferrell’s antics appalling, Land of the Lost isn’t for you. If you find your inner immature bastard giggling like an Asian schoolgirl when he puts his testicles on musical instruments, then you’ll dig this movie. Think Apatow-esque humor meets any Brendan Fraser adventure.
PHILIP: That’s a solid way of putting it, and one I didn’t think about until now. Land of the Lost isn’t subtle about anything, actually. What Silberling and company seem to be just using a property that wasn’t well respected to begin with and tried to make as many outlandish and obscure jokes as they could and cut together something resembling a story. Like Erik said though, it really does come down to how you feel on Ferrell as for most of the time, he’s playing his usual self.
ERIK: Having the film tie into a marketing campaign with Subway may give parents the impression that Land of the Lost is a family-friendly flick. It isn’t. Parents, please note the PG-13 rating for crude and sexual content.
More than it just being typical summer fare, I have the sneaking suspicion that Universal will begin production on a theme park ride based on the movie’s exploits. Hop aboard the river raft, fall into another dimension and run from the grumpy T-Rex and fornicating lizard people. It’s all rather ho-hum and Land of the Lost looks eerily like Will’s (Danny McBride) tourist trap ride in the beginning of the film.
PHILIP: And that’s the irony isn’t it? It’s totally NOT family friendly yet they’ll likely exploit it as an attraction should it be popular enough at a family friendly park. The trailer even features Will grabbing onto Holly’s (Anna Friel) breast. There’s also a gag involving Marshall (Ferrell) dousing himself in dino-urine that’s more gross that it is funny.
What The Buckman is saying about the film’s effects is right though. This movie looks like it was done for cheap even though that may have been the point. The show had some shoddy effects to begin with but that shouldn’t be an excuse for the T-Rex to look like a Jurassic Park reject. I did appreciate the use of actual people in the Sleestak costumes rather than CGI’ing the hell out of them.
ERIK: Agreed on the Sleestak and since you brought up Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies), it’s worth noting that she was pretty good in this. Usually in madcap adventure films, the female lead leans toward whiny and annoying. Like Rachel Weisz in the first two Mummy movies, Friel is tough, witty, and doesn’t forgo her sex appeal.
When you walk into a Jack in the Box, you don’t expect fillet mignon. So to, when you walk into Land of the Lost, one shouldn’t expect Citizen Kane. However it’s a bit disappointing that the film’s producers went for a balls-out comedy with nary a moment of thoughtfulness. I know, it’s too much to ask for in a Will Ferrell vehicle. Like Philip said, the film has the subtlety of a jackhammer.
PHILIP: And like Weisz, she’s lets her beauty, not the make-up do the talking. I understand asking for logic as well in this movie is a stretch, but I do have to question why she’d pick to hide out in a cave when two scenes ago we see the remains of an astronaut slaughtered to death in another cave. Even if this is Land of the Lost, shouldn’t the characters at least be aware of their surroundings and not use locations because they’re convenient to the thin-as-Kate Moss plot?
ERIK: All in all, Land of the Lost is funnish time. But beware of this bitch-slap of truth: digging too deep into this movie will lead you to feel like you’ve just been deuced by a dinosaur.
PHILIP: It’s really tough to recommend this. One the one hand those who embrace it’s outright silliness will enjoy it, but the majority will be turned off by how diverse and out there the film is. Yes, the TV Series was cheesy much like the film but the movie seems to use that more as an excuse for be stupid rather than to honor the show. With all that, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t entertained by it. Midway through I accepted how retarded it wanted to be and rolled with it. It may be the most random film ever, but as has been repeated it really comes down to how much you embrace how goofy it is. Overall, I can’t recommend it as it’s really, really out there and probably isn’t going to hit well with audiences.
Erik’s score – Rating: 
Philip’s score – Rating:
I didn’t think “Land of the Lost” was a BAD movie. Some aspects of it were refreshing. For example, I liked the cinematography a lot… like during the dinosaur chase scenes, it kinda felt real because of the shaky Cloverfieldish camera perspectives. And although it wasn’t the funniest movie ever, it did have its moments. Anyway, nice post.