La cité perdue

The Lost City has pieces that work and pieces that don't. Placing pretenders into an actual adventure is good for laughs and heart, yet much of this script is generic. Unimaginative MacGuffins, flat villains, and predictable romances are individually forgivable, but together, they override the premise's charm. Furthermore, the dialogue, humor, and plot devices are subpar. The cast enhances the material (especially Pitt and Radcliffe), but some scenes are groaners. Tatum's charisma shines through and Pitt's cameo provides flavor, but that isn't enough to pull The Lost City out of mediocrity. It isn't painful, but The Lost City misses more than it hits.

Meanwhile, The Lost City's filmmaking is average. Its minor positives are the cinematography (intermittently dramatizing comedy and action), the sound (selling the combat and jungle setting), the production design (primarily real but often computerized), and the effects (employing real explosions amongst the CGI). Conversely, the editing occasionally sags (lingering on unessential jokes) and the music is distractingly trendy (forcing fun, rather than serving the narrative). Lastly, The Lost City lacks cohesion. Its humor and emotions never tonally blend, and instead take turns (which disconnects viewers). Ultimately, The Lost City has mild appeal, but functions inconsistently.

Writing: 3/10 Direction: 3/10 Cinematography: 6/10 Acting: 5/10 Editing: 4/10 Sound: 6/10 Score/Soundtrack: 4/10 Production Design: 6/10 Casting: 8/10 Effects: 6/10

Overall Score: 5.1/10.

The first half of this movie is really funny. I was laughing more than most in the theater. There are so many well-written jokes and situational humor with about an 80% hit rate, including a few hilarious moments. The characters are fleshed out enough for me to care. The story is formulaic and relatively weak compared to the other aspects, but that's easily forgiven when it's making me laugh.

In the second half, the laughs slow down drastically. It gets a lot more serious with attempts at character arcs and story moments that aren't bad but are things we've seen a thousand times. I didn't hate watching it, but without as much comedy it's a much weaker movie.

The first half is easily seven stars. The second half is a weak six. I wouldn't mind watching this again but I wouldn't go out of my way to do so. (1 viewing, opening Thursday night 3/24/2022)

The opening scene reminded me of "Romancing The Stone" with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas, and as such, I couldn't help but compare "City" to "Stone" although this film. My verdict is that "Romancing The Stone" is funnier, better acted, and a just all-around better movie.

'The Lost City' is a classic case of a film where the plot doesn't break any new ground, but the charisma and chemistry of its stars manage to elevate it. The story follows a familiar template-a romance novelist (played by Sandra Bullock) gets caught up in a wild jungle adventure alongside her book's cover model (Channing Tatum) after being kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe). In fact, I do believe - from what little I've read online about the movie - says it's basically the loosest of remakes of 'Romance in the Stone' (or one of the 'Romance...' films, I forget!).

Everything about it is so generic it's barely worth talking about it, however what truly makes 'The Lost City' shine, is Sandra Bullock, who, despite being a bit unlikable to begin with, becomes as charming as ever to watch. Channing Tatum, playing against his usual type, adds a goofy sweetness to the dynamic, and the two have a playful chemistry that makes their banter entertaining, but, if you've seen Brad Pitt's name on the cast list, don't expect too much of him during the runtime (no spoilers here!). Daniel Radcliffe does his best to shed his Harry Potter image and plays the villain quite quirky and fun, though his character isn't particularly complex.

For me, the film's weakest point (besides the Playstation 2 level special effects!) was a minor sub-plot with the main character's literary agent tracking her down. This part of the film could probably have been taken out completely and left the film's overall runtime a lot tighter.

'The Lost City' doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it delivers enough laughs and charm to make for an enjoyable viewing (it's certainly the type of film you could have on in the background, go out to make a cup of tea, then come back in and found you haven't missed that much and can still pick up on the plot fairly easily). If you're a fan of Sandra Bullock or looking for a breezy, escapist romp, this one's worth checking out.

Mainstream comedies that actually make it to theatres are slim to none these days. I remember a time when there was possibly a big comedy coming out every one or two months, with at least half of them being good, but in today's climate, humour is just tough to get right. I was very happy to see that Paramount would be taking a chance and releasing a big comedy in The Lost City this year, but I truly didn't know to what to expect from it. After seeing it in theatres, I'm happy to say that I had a good time with it. It's not great, but it felt like a throwback comedy, just with a modern twist.

To put it simply, The Lost City follows Loretta (Sandra Bullock) as she's on a book tour with her cover model Alan (Channing Tatum) to promote the release of "The Lost City of D," but they are swept up in a kidnapping and find themselves on a real adventure in the jungle. Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) is the reason Loretta was kidnapped in the first place, as he sees many similarities in her book to that of a real lost city. Being the privileged twerp that he is makes for a fun villainous storyline, even if it's pretty lame at times. Radcliffe aside (whom I still enjoyed), this film puts all of its weight on Tatum and Bullock to deliver the goods.

This premise is clever enough to work as a film, but it all comes down to who you cast and if they can make the material work. I never thought I needed to see this duo together, but I'm very happy they worked so well. On top of that, I have to admit that the best moments in the film feature Brad Pitt's character Jack Trainer. He isn't in the film much, but every second he was on screen had me laughing. Where I found the film to be slightly uneven though, was in the fact that I wasn't sure if it wanted to be funny or dramatic at times.

I'm all for heartfelt storylines as well as comedy, but I would argue that the majority of the humour is in the first half, while the second half gets a little more sentimental. These both worked in the movie, but the way the film begins gives absolutely no foreshadowing as to what the film will become by the end. I found that odd, but again, the cast sold all of the dialogue for me. From a few hilarious moments to some fun adventure/action throughout, as I said, I had a good time with this one.

In the end, The Lost City is exactly what I think moviegoers need right now. Nothing too serious or weighed down by heavy drama. This is a good old-fashioned, silly comedy/romance that I feel works for what it is. It's not going to be the type of comedy that a lot of people are going to watch over and over again, at least I don't think, but the heart of the film is in the right place and it never takes anything too seriously. Now playing in theatres, I'd give a recommendation to The Lost City.