Land Of The Lost (2009) - Movie Review

LAND OF THE LOST is directed by Brad Silberling and stars Will Ferrell (Dr. Rick Marshall), Anna Friel (Holly) and Danny McBride (Will). It isn't dad and his kids anymore as now Holly is a love struck (with Marshall) scientist and Will is some kind of loser/loner working a run down amusement park he has big plans for.

If you are not looking for stupid humor then don't watch this movie! If you don't know what to expect when watching a Will Ferrell movie then maybe you should watch it and take your punishment. As this movie is full of just plain simple stupid Ferrell humor. I won't let you know if he shows his butt in this one. Some of the humor is just juvenile as if it had been written by Beavis or Butthead but not enough to ruin it. The breast grabbing by Chaka (Jorma Taccone) was funny the first five times then it got old or when Will tells Holly she should sit on the vibrating crystal made me think that was Beavis getting a line in but no matter, it was still an enjoyable film.

The movie does not hold to the show from the 70's (that I loved as a kid btw) but I got over that. It has many differences actually but the core of the dinosaurs and the sleestak and the odd creatures are there. Some moments, I thought were absolutely hilarious and I especially liked the T-Rex parts. Chaka has an expanded role too, although I had a hard time with Holly being able to speak his language based on some gliffs her old excavation team had found and she studied.

The clerk who rented the movie to me said my daughter might not enjoy it as much as the people who were familiar with the TV show but that was not true. She laughed along with us at the funny parts although we did fill her in on some of the past details. The movie moves along at a good pace although I was getting impatient waiting for them to get "lost". The land of the lost itself has an interesting new twist that odd things like when ships or cars or the Golden Gate Bridge are sucked into a vortex and are then dropped onto their dessert. One time an entire hotel outdoor pool dropped down and they took a swimming break. There is way more dessert than jungle in this movie.

Matt Lauer's cameo is a riot as well. Maybe one of the best elements of the movie. Definitely generated a few good belly laughs. And this is what this movie is about... laughs. In that regard it delivers. If you want a recreation of the TV show it isn't really there but enough is present to stoke up some of those memories from Saturday morning cartoon day - a day completely foreign to today's children of 24/7 cartoon channels.

I recommend this movie but you need to bring in the right frame of mind. If you were one of those people who didn't like "Twister" because it was too "fakey" you probably wont enjoy this movie. It isn't really a great movie movie but it is funny and if you like Will Ferrell antics then you wont be disappointed.