La cité perdue

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.

Bonkers that this film is rated only 6.1 on Imdb right now--it's better than that. Proof that folks who rate movies on here are sometimes guilty of the same crime that professional critics frequently make--looking the gift horse in the mouth. As you can see folks, this is not an art-house film--it's pure entertainment, and it delivers on that count.

My wife and I saw this in the theater--the Brad Pitt cameo alone is worth the price of admission and both Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock have lots of funny lines and pure situational/physical comedy too. What's not to like? A cast that's easy on the eyes and talented to boot, a fairly decent script and a love story with enough heft but still airy and entertaining.

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)

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this, but on the whole, I did, some bits of it were pretty silly, but there were some nice moments, and a few bits that had me in stitches. Some of the sweeter, romance moments were maybe a little corny, but that's what was expected I guess.

Nice special effects, it looks great, I loved the locations used. You can argue it had a somewhat old fashioned, maybe old school vibe about it, but sometimes you just need a bit of silliness in your life.

Nicely acted, they all did a good job, Daniel Radcliffe was good fun, always enjoy his work.

It really does make the most of Channing Tatum's looks, and it does work, he is ridiculously handsome, and there are several tongue in cheek moments, he seems like a good sport.

7/10.