Well, the title is more of a reference to the 1991 remake Land of the Lost series, but you get the idea.
My girlfriend, my bud and I decided to check out LAND OF THE LOST this past Friday at the Drafthouse. We unfortunately arrived a half-hour early, which, for the Drafthouse, is like getting there 5 minutes after the trailers have started. Still, we sat down in the very front row. He ordered a cheeseburger, she ordered potato skins, and I ordered fried alligator! I'd normally be against something like that, but given the prolific numbers of the American Alligator, I was convinced to give it a try. Tough and chewy, but with a nice flavor.
Oh right, LAND OF THE LOST.
It's not for everyone.
That above statement can best be illustrated by the three of us: us guys loved it, my girlfriend hated it. It has a bizarre, admittedly Will Ferrell brand of humor that reminds one of Adult Swim or Family Guy; a lot of rambling nonsense and gross-out shock humor, which, as I mentioned, I and my dry-humor oriented friend loved. However, because this type of comedy is so weird and offbeat, it's going to throw people off. And also, there was a good chunk that was genuinely not funny. The overall plot was also pretty weak, lifting story aspects from the original, well-written-but-badly-executed TV series and throwing it all together into a weird, big-budget Saturday Night Live-styled adventure.
Of course, we got a kick out of quite a bit of it; first and foremost, the flick is damn cool to look at. There are some wildly awesome set pieces and some really neat, retro-styled sets that are specific throw backs to the original series. And then there were the dinosaurs, not to mention all of the other creatures and critters. It was nice to see a well-animated Allosaurus, as well as a big, crazy, funny crab monster. And holy crap, the sound effects, music and editing? Excellent across the board. I especially liked the crab monster's sound FX. But beyond all the CGI whozamawhatzit were the practical effects, i.e. THE SLEESTAKS. Good stuff.
The human characters ranged from boring to weird to compellingly funny. Will Ferrel played Will Ferrel. Chaka was also a little weirdo. The bits with Matt Lauer were also a laugh-riot.
But hands-down, the coolest part of the whole flick? GRUMPY THE T-REX. Go see it for him if nothing else.
Like I said, not for everyone, but it may be worth at least checking out on DVD...or at the Drafthouse. We loved it, but we're weirdos.
Pointlessly Awesome Trivia Time!
The original series was written by a lot of old Star Trek writers. Leonard Nimoy plays "The Varn" in the new movie. Captain Kirk's Nipples!
