Land of the Lost (2009)

I love this movie so much

As Good As It Gets

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

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).

Don't be scared off by the low rating, this comedy is definitely worth your time. Danny McBride and Will Ferrell aren't the only source of laughs with its crazy scenes and plot. It manages to be exciting and adventurous without being strung out and forced. All the comedy flows, nothing feels forced or tired. Every scene has humor in it, even during serious points of the movie. Unlike Adam Sandler movies, where everything is forced and cliché, this is fun to watch. Despite a relatively low budget, the fx aren't bad at all except where they're supposed to look cheap for humorous effect. Memorable movie worthy of watching many times.

"Will Ferrell never disappoints" was a previous notion of mine that proved to be false. Land of the Lost, directed by Brad Silberling accomplished the feat of being the first Will Ferrell film I have watched without having sore abs afterward from laughing. This so called "comedy" starring Ferrell as archaeologist Dr. Rick Marshall, lacked the laughs and special effects to hold any degree of my interest.The only times I chuckled during the film were at the crude, sexual remarks occasionally slipped into a scene, usually directed toward Marshall's assistant Holly (Anna Friel). As the two of them and Will (Danny McBride) are time warped into another world run by animated creatures they are faced with strange, unexpected obstacles. This unknown world consistently faces the trio with challenges as they search for Marshall's tachyon amplifier and a portal back to the real world. The noticeably computerized dinosaurs, aliens, and other creatures left a permanently confused wrinkle on my forehead. Several scenes had me questioning if they were meant to look overly fake as a joke. The actors were not blended with the backgrounds, but rather looked like they had been placed in front of the screen with no further editing. In multiple cases, backgrounds and actors failed to preserve the same resolution. Continuously half- blurry and half-high definition scenes distracted away from what was happening on the screen.Until nearly halfway through the film, the plot had no direction. Marshall and his sidekicks roamed aimlessly until an alien from a black hole in yet another unknown world asked Dr. Marshall to retrieve his amplifier from the jungle. Finally, they had a mission. Nothing happened to further advance the plot besides random, unpredictable events, such as an ice cream truck landing in the middle of the desert or hundreds of aliens appearing from the forest. It's as if, while writing the script the writers arrived at a dead end and chose an object from a hat to fall from the sky to liven things up.To add to the nonsensical plot, there was often times mysterious music playing louder than the actors were speaking. In most scenes there was nothing suspenseful about to happen, and it had me questioning if the spooky music was merely on repeat. The constant "dun dun dun dun" was unnecessary and on the verge of annoying. Rather than adding effect, it created confusion as a result of not being able to hear the dialogue.                                   Overall, I was very unimpressed with the quality of this film. The original idea may have had potential with well known actors playing conflicting characters, but somewhere in the making, the ideas went south. Maybe a science fiction lover who thinks Will Ferrell simply strutting around in an archaeologist outfit is humorous would enjoy this movie more than I did. I'm not even sure a science fiction fanatic would have endured this sloppily edited film.

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.