The Lost City review

THE LOST CITY: 

SANDRA BULLOCK AND CHANNING TATUM ARE A POWERHOUSE DUO IN THIS INCREDIBLY FUNNY ADVENTURE-COMEDY! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in The Lost City

 

            Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side, The Heat, Gravity) and Channing Tatum (21/22 Jump Street, Magic Mike, Dog) venture into The Lost City, the new adventure-comedy from Aaron and Adam Nee (Band of Robbers). The film is from a story conceived by Seth Gordon (The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, Horrible Bosses, Identity Thief), who serves as a producer and is given story credit for it. 

            Despite seeing the trailer quite a few times in theaters and being a fan of Bullock and Tatum’s work, I wouldn’t say I was super excited for this movie, it just looked like a fun, silly adventure movie with two very charming and funny actors as the leads. Not to mention, its release was sandwiched between other releases that had my attention like The Batman and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, nevertheless I was still interested in checking this movie out and…I had a really good time with it! 

            One of the all-time great jungle adventure comedies that’s on par with Romancing the Stone or Tropic Thunder? No, but compared to recent jungle-themed films that were mediocre or average like Uncharted and Jungle Cruise, this is easily the best of the bunch. 

            While all three of those films had extremely likable lead actors and for the most part they worked well together for their specific movies, I think what really sets Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum apart from Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg from Uncharted is that the writing for them is very strong, their banter between each other is witty, and even though their team-up is mostly played for laughs, you grow attached to these characters who are completely opposite from one-another because of their unique personalities and character development, which is more than I can say for Peter Parker 2.0, Mark Wahlberg playing himself as Sully, and “What’s Her Face” from Uncharted.

            The film follows Loretta Sage (Bullock), a middle-aged author who wrote a series of romance-adventure novels with her dim-witted cover model, Alan Caprison (Tatum) as fictional hero, Dash McMahon. But when Loretta is suddenly taken by eccentric billionaire, Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe-Harry Potter franchise, December Boys, Now You See Me 2) who insists that the city of treasures from her books is real and takes her to a remote island where the treasure is hidden, it’s up to Alan to become the real-life Dash as he sets off to rescue her. 

            The film also stars Brad Pitt (Inglourious Basterds, Moneyball, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as Jack Trainer, Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, Office Christmas Party, People of Earth) as Beth Hatten, Patti Harrison (A Simple Favor, Together Together, Raya and the Last Dragon) as Allison, and Oscar Nuñez (Reno 911, The Office, The 33) as Oscar. 

            Overall, The Lost City can be best described as a fun romp that doesn’t take itself seriously and has a little something for everyone. Those looking for an exciting and action-packed Indiana Jones/The Mummy-esque treasure hunt, a silly, screwball buddy-comedy, or even some rom-com fluff will probably have a very good time with this film because it excels at mixing genres and Bullock and Tatum do a superb job flipping back-and-forth between being goofy and serious. 

            Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum have wonderful chemistry together as the duo I never knew I needed until after seeing this film. We’ve seen Tatum deliver some very funny performances before in the 21 Jump Street movies and he is hilarious as this dim-witted but hunky cover model, but I think a lot of people overlook Bullock’s comedic talents, personally I’d say this movie along with The Heat perfectly showcase just how funny this woman can be and the banter between Bullock and Tatum is hysterical and one of the highlights of the movie. 

            But that’s not all, Daniel Radcliffe is having a ball as this cartoonishly over-the-top villain who chews the scenery, makes you laugh, and poses a threat all at the same time, while also sharing a ton of witty dialogue with Sandra Bullock. Who would have thought Harry Potter would make such a great villain? 

            I should make this perfectly clear, if you’re going into this movie expecting to see a lot of Brad Pitt, you may be a little disappointed as his role is basically an extended cameo. The focus of the film is where it needs to be, but I thought I’d mention that…though his scenes are incredibly funny and badass like the dude himself. 

            The reason why this movie succeeds where Uncharted fails is that it remembers the importance of good storytelling and compelling characters, the plot is a little standard but because the characters are so funny and likable and the script is very witty, it feels fresh and new, and you care about the characters a lot more outside of the fact that they’re played by well-known and popular actors. 

Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg are excellent actors and were fine in Uncharted, but I did not care for their characters very much whereas the characters in this I wanted to follow until the very end because they actually have chemistry. Honestly, this movie is perfect counterprogramming for Uncharted and is the far better adventure film out in theaters right now. 

For the most part, I really enjoyed this movie but it isn’t exactly a perfect film, for the example the movie falls victim to some ADR jokes that don’t quite land and at times, they’ll do that cliché found in a lot of modern comedies where the lead actors will ramble and adlib several of their lines and they really stand out, but thankfully they’re very few and far between and it’s usually followed by a joke that does stick the landing. 

The Lost City is a delightful and crowd-pleasing adventure that’s definitely worth embarking on. I can’t promise a comedy classic, but for those looking for something silly but with some substance to it, this may be your treasure.