A Fun Time Getting 'Lost'

by Brett Parker

Land of the Lost is a big-screen update of a 1970s Saturday morning TV show now noted for its cheesy special effects. What is so peculiar about this update is how in a time of state-of-the-art CGI breakthroughs, the film’s special effects attempts to recapture the innocent cheesiness of the original show. By doing this, the film becomes an unexpected spoof of effects-ridden event films in which actors blue screen their way through adventure fantasies. This film is out to celebrate the ridiculousness of those kinds of blockbusters, and who better to celebrate ridiculousness than Will Ferrell?

Ferrell stars as Rick Marshall, a bumbling scientist who tries to make a name for himself by proving that he can find time portals to other dimensions. Marshall sabotages his whole plan, however, after conducting a disastrous interview on The Today Show with Matt Lauer. Lauer’s no-nonsense questioning highlights the lunacy in Marshall’s methods and he is made to look like a complete fool. The interview ends with Lauer blasting Marshall with a fire extinguisher. This interview becomes the most notoriously hilarious web clip on the internet, tarnishing Marshall’s reputation and making it impossible for him to get funding for his experiments.

One day, Marshall receives unexpected support from a beautiful scientist named Holly (Anna Friel) who convinces him to test out a portal device in a nearby tourist cave. With the assistance of an obnoxious tour guide named Will (Danny McBride), the scientists take a ride down the cave stream and the device transports all three of them to a strange and decidedly goofy alternate dimension. What a strange place this is. It resembles a prehistoric landscape, with missing links and dinosaurs, yet missing objects and buildings from the modern world find their way to this place. Dinosaurs attack an ice cream truck. A motel with a swimming pool is found in the middle of a desert. A race of lizard-men named Sleestaks look to wreak havoc and some of them even take time to fornicate with each other. The trio must battle all of these challenges as they stumble about trying to find their way home.

Whenever we watch an effects-heavy popcorn film, we apply suspension of disbelief to distract from the basic absurdities than can be sensed in watching special effect sequences. Moviegoers are smart and can sense when they are looking at screen animation and blue screen work in front of them, but if the actors are convincing and the effects are efficient, they will go with the flow and seek cinematic enjoyment. Land of the Lost purposely exploits these peculiar absurdities and uses them to great comic effect. Instead of sleek and convincing effects, the filmmakers have allowed a degree of fakeness to sneak into the imagery and bring an intended goofiness to the film’s look. The Sleestaks bodies have the obvious look of rubber suits while the CGI look of the dinosaurs is highly cartoonish. This comedy allows us to see how hilariously awful it would be if movies like Jurassic Park and Lord of the Rings fell into amateurish and incompetent hands.

That’s not to say Land of the Lost is an amateurish and incompetent film. Director Brad Silberling (Casper, A Serious of Unfortunate Events) has grown a talent for creating fantasy landscapes of compelling whimsy and he doesn’t come up short on that quality this time around. Sure, this movie may revel in juvenile silliness, but it’s good-looking and fun juvenile silliness. I found myself really loving the loud randomness of the film’s production design, which throws everything at us from old Cadillacs to dinosaur nests. Like the Land of Oz or Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, this is truly a cinematic landscape of childlike imagination you won’t soon forget.

Now I use the word childlike to describe the film’s look while the content, mind you, is a completely different story. I once wrote that Will Ferrell is pushing “deeper into a comic abyss, one that could cause his movies to snap from reality and descend fully into madness.” In that sense, Land of the Lost pretty much needs a straight jacket. While Ferrell constantly gets away with raunchy buffoonery in simple comedies, I think it’s hilarious that he tries to pull such insane shenanigans in a big-budget effects film based on a children’s television show. While the film’s advertising makes this look like a kid-friendly vehicle, be warned that this is the complete opposite. Get ready for Ferrell drowning himself in dinosaur urine, lizard people having sex, an ape-man who gropes both men and women, and, I kid you not, a scene where Ferrell and McBride get stoned with a missing link while chewing on a giant lobster.

Sure, Land of the Lost is stupid, cheesy, and could’ve been a powerhouse epic if made seriously, but I’m truly in awe of its comic audacity and truly in love with its creative look. If you watch episodes of the old TV show, you could spot the obviousness of the fake backgrounds and the stitching in the creature suits. I think it’s pretty hysterical that the film sets out to honor and retain that kind of spirit. Both moviegoers and critics have reacted negatively to this flick mainly due to Ferrell’s relentless brand of humor. To them I say, have you never seen a Will Ferrell comedy before? Did you seriously not see insanity like this coming? Do you think a deranged comedian like Ferrell could look at a dinosaur and not bring up its bathroom functions?