In the 1970s, things were a bit different. Granted, the turmoil of the late ’60s into the early ’70s had changed things, but kids had yet to become the jaded mass of technology addicts that brighten our lives — and empty our wallets — today. It was in that time that two brothers introduced us to an amazing universe: the world of Sid and Marty Krofft. The brothers Krofft brought a vibrant new vision to children. “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters,” “Electra Woman and Dyna Girl” and “The Bugaloos” were among the many creations of the Kroffts, but perhaps their best known foray involved the Marshall family and its adventures in the “Land of the Lost.”
Dr. Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) believes the most important field of scientific research involves parallel dimension. Unfortunately for Dr. Marshall, his most noteworthy accomplishments in the field involve the ridicule of colleagues and an infamous “Today Show” interview with Matt Lauer that led to the most viewed YouTube clip in history, as Marshall attempted to strangle Lauer.
Jump ahead three years. Marshall, now working at the La Brea Tar Pits, is approached by Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel), a graduate student who believes in his scientific research. She convinces Marshall to try again, and together they head out armed with his Tachyon reader to open a portal to a parallel dimension. They arrive at the Devil’s Canyon Mystery Cave tour. Here, they and tour guide Will Stanton (Danny McBride) plummet into a waterfall/vortex created by Marshall’s Tachyon device, arriving in the “Land of the Lost.”
They quickly realize they are not in Kansas anymore when an agitated T-Rex, named Grumpy by the group, chases them through this strange new land. During the chase, Marshall’s constant slights of Grumpy’s walnut-sized brain begins a long-running personal feud between the two. The group also encounters an advanced, and decidedly amorous, primate named Cha-ka (Jorma Taccone). Cha-ka teams up with the group, hoping to find his way back to his own people as well.
In a strange jungle ruin, we meet the Sleestaks. Lizard humanoids that shamble with the grace and agility of George Romero’s finest zombies, the Sleestaks are the army of Enik (John Boylan) and are to be his destructive wave unleashed on the galaxy. All Enik needs is Marshall’s Tachyon device in order to open any parallel world for his lizard horde. Sounds funny and exciting, doesn’t it? Yeah, I would have thought so, too.
Ferrell has produced some of the funniest moments in the annals of TV and film. This, however, is not one of them. For those of you that are diehards, you’ll find your four or five funny quotes, but not the consistently evil funny that permeated every fiber of “Anchorman” or some of Ferrell’s “Saturday Night Live” work. This film felt empty. It felt rushed. It seemed as if everyone had just mailed it in and was resting on the fact that Ferrell will take care of it.
Sadly, he did not.
The majority of the film’s dollars were spent on A.) Ferrell and B.) computer generated effects, Grumpy the dinosaur being the recipient of most of the dollars. The Sleestaks were much truer to the original Krofft form than other aspects of the film. They were obvious foam rubber suits for a majority of the filming, with their multiple rows of teeth being the big money effect.
Regardless of effects, or Ferrell, the film was just flat. The supporting cast was competent, but not brilliant. McBride showed potential, and Friel is not hard to look at, but aside from Ferrell and the dinosaur, Lauer gave the strongest performance. Not a good sign.
I don’t recommend this one. Currently, there are too many better choices for the price tag associated with going to the cineplex, and frankly, it just wasn’t very good at all. The film needed to decide what its target audience was going to be. It was a handful of swear words away from a PG rating. Studios attempt to avoid this at all costs for fear of alienating the highly desired teen market. But the film was, in actuality, suited for much younger viewers. So, ultimately that lack of concise decision making led to the weak final product, as well as to the T-Rex and I having some very similar personality traits. Grumpy, I feel your pain.
Rating: W 1/2
