The Lost City
PARAMOUNTA familiar re-tread of Robert Zemeckis’ Romancing the Stone, Aaron Nee and Adam Nee’s The Lost City knows exactly what it is and who it’s catering to: people in need of a good ol’ fashion adventure flick, with two charming leads carrying the entire movie. Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock are like Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in Zemeckis’ film, though with an interesting twist that makes the film quite engaging – even if it’s quite predictable.
Bullock plays Loretta Sage, a romance-adventure novelist whose latest book, titled The Lost City of D, is currently having a disastrous tour. Not even one stop in and she gets kidnapped by a billionaire named Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), currently looking for the real treasure of the “Lost City” mentioned in Sage’s book. He believes Sage is the only one that could help him uncover where the treasure is located – even if she has no clue – while her cover model Alan (Tatum) is trying to rescue her with former Navy Seal Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt). Of course, things don’t go as planned and it’s part of the fun that The Lost City offers.
Tatum and Bullock have incredible chemistry together and are the main reason why The Lost City is so enjoyable. Without them in the lead, who knows how this movie would’ve come out; it follows a “treasure” plotline filmgoers have seen before, time and again, and it doesn’t reinvent the wheel in that regard. Jungle Cruise recently came out, and was basically Indiana Jones – but with a boat and The Rock – while The Lost City acts as a quasi-remake of Romancing the Stone. The similarities in tone, story, and action are quite apparent, which is why it’s easy to believe that the movie wouldn’t have worked without such strong actors as protagonists.
The only actor whose performance doesn’t work is Daniel Radcliffe’s Abigail Fairfax, who has an exuberant demeanor, but it only comes off as cartoonish. He really tries to play the “nice” antagonist who gives Sage whatever she wants as long as she complete the task he wants her to do yet goes ballistic when she doesn’t want to. And just by watching this, his fate can be easily predicted, especially if the audience is well-versed in adventure-comedy films. There’s been too many of them re-telling the same story, and the crux of The Lost City’s plot is too stale for its own good. They’re looking for a thingamajig – which will inevitably hold a “treasure” – and that’s what motivates the characters from beginning to end. It’s a safe bet for a springtime blockbuster.
Where the movie really shines is in its ability to create terrific physical comedy with Bullock and Tatum. Their comedic timing is impeccable, and there are many sequences that made the entire audience erupt in continuous laughter, particularly one involving leeches that had a great use of both actors’ gag reflexes. Brad Pitt is a show-stealer. He may not be in the movie for that much – the trailer spoiled his sole sequence, but there’s more to it – but he owns every single amount of the screen in the film’s most creative action scene.
Cinematographer Jonathan Sela adds lots of colour and interesting depth to the movie’s action, particularly the ones shot at night. There’s a real creative eye here to make the action as visually enticing as possible, even if its choreography – minus the Brad Pitt scene – feels standard. Some ‘whoa’ moments here and there elevate the action to surprising heights, but the overall feeling is still quite formulaic. The movie doesn’t excel much on a purely technical level, either; its visual effects are clunky and unfinished, and the sets are terribly obvious. One that simulates a small town feels like it was ripped off of a 1940’s film where everything was shot on a Hollywood backlot. It may be intentional, but it can definitely take the audience out of the film if it’s too obvious.
And even with all of its flaws, The Lost City is a damn good time at the movies. Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum charm the hell out of its script, and make every scene, even its most familiar ones, a joy to watch. Brad Pitt deserved to be a side-character to Tatum, but an extended cameo will do for now; he still gives his all for the short time he’s in. The movie attempts to subvert the tropes of adventure comedies during its climax, but fails at surprising audiences in that regard. It does subvert many audience expectations when it comes to characters, and the sole focus of any audience member that sees the film this weekend is to enjoy how great of an on-screen duo Bullock and Tatum are, and that they should make another movie together in the very near future.