Critical Analysis Of Land Of The Lost Adventure Comedy

An ode to old campy comedies and 60s sci fi, Land of the Lost (2009), delivers plenty to laugh at in this comical remake, making me wonder why so many critics are disappointed with this film. The writers of the original Land of the Lost television series, Sid and Marty Krofft, produced this surreal dimension where time travelers find themselves in a land where dinosaurs roam alongside a lost tribe of primitive man, giant mosquitoes, and an advanced race of reptilians. This audacious remake will, without a doubt, make you laugh unforgivingly which is why I love this film. Its unforgettable setting, and ability to develop the plot through the use of jokes makes it my all-time favorite film. As with other audience favorites that received low ratings such as Sandlot and Spaceballs, Land of the Lost received poor reviews, garnering an underwhelming 26% on Rotten Tomatoes. It even went on to win a Razzie Award for Worst Remake. Despite opposition, I believe that if most critics viewed this film with a fresh set of eyes they would realize that there's more to this Razzie-Award winning film than they would like to admit.

In order to solve the world's energy crisis by transporting fuel from past, present, future, and even parallel dimensions, quantum paleontologist Dr. Rick Marshall played by Will Ferrell is in the process of developing a tachyon amplifier that he believes will allow him to travel sideways in time. Having spent five years of his time and over fifty million dollars on his research only to be ousted by the rest of the science community, he considers giving up on his dream until he meets Holly Cantrell, the only scientist to have ever agreed with his work. Marshall is in utter disbelief that his tachyon amplifier will work until Holly shows him a two hundred sixty five million year old fossil imprinted with a ten dollar lighter. This bit of evidence is all he needs to push him to complete his machine. The next day, with his machine complete, she convinces him to go on a routine expedition to test it. On their expedition they meet Will, played by Danny Mcbride, a gift shop owner who guides them through the Devil’s Canyon Mystery Cave. On Will’s tour of the cave, the tachyon amplifier unexpectedly opens a time warp in space that transfers them into the Land of the Lost. It is here that they befriend Chaka, played by Jorma Taccone, and face many obstacles on their quest back to earth including a witty T-rex, an army of infamous sleestaks, carnivorous trees, and a crab the size of a bus.

In many ways Land of the Lost serves as a distraction from the modern day mainstream fare which, in my opinion, is one of its greatest strengths. It provides plenty of adventure to satisfy the audience's thirst of exploring the unimaginable, producing a good deal of laughs along the way. The exploration of this new land and the conflicts that come with it truly makes the film an outlier. It’s outrageous and surreal settings have been described by Amy Biancolli, Hearst Movie Critic, as “scenes that Salvador Dali might have cooked up.” It's not every day that you get to view this scenery in the form of a movie, and I have to say that I enjoyed every bit of it. Another thing that I love about the movie is that they embrace the special effects of the original television show. Roger Ebert, one of the most notable film critics agrees in saying that “The show and the film will never be confused, but they share one thing in common: deliriously fake locations, props and special effects… Confronted with such effects, the actors make not the slightest effort to appear terrified, amazed or sometimes even mildly concerned. Some might consider that a weakness. I suspect it is more of a deliberate choice, and I say I enjoyed it”.

The use of fake locations, props, and special effects is best shown in a conflict between the movies main antagonist “Grumpy” the T-rex and Dr. Rick Marshall. In this scene, Marshall arrogantly states that T-rex’s have a “Brain the size of a walnut”. Later that night a loud noise is heard outside of the cave that they are staying in. When they get to the caves main entrance, they discover a gift wrapped item the size of a beach ball. As grumpy menacingly stalks from a distance, Marshall and his crew are left in shock to find that their present is a giant walnut. It seems to me that critics biggest problem with the movie is that it’s not family friendly like the original TV series. Movie critic James Berardinelli states, “while few of the jokes are funny, some are unexpectedly racy for what is being sold as a ‘family film.’” Although critics are upset with these implied jokes, it has become common by the viewers to dismiss them as normal in most kids films today. In an exclusive interview conducted by Steve Weintraub of Collider.com, Sid and Marty Krofft state that “It’s not a kids movie, we knew this was happening, we were part of the development” They were aware of the change in kids taste of movies and took advantage of this, “You can just tune in MTV at two o’clock in the afternoon. We’re in the year two thousand nine, this is not thirty years ago.” Racy jokes have been hidden in other kids films such as the Toy Story series and Shrek. Today’s kids are exposed to this content at the touch of a button so it is hard for me to understand why this is an issue to most critics. I strongly feel that if critics viewed this film from a different perspective they would have enjoyed the film a lot more.

Despite critics reviews I find it difficult to see how a movie that seamlessly integrates plot development with comedy, outlandish set design, and sci fi could be put down. It's one of a kind and never fails to make me laugh. It’s not often that you get to see all of these aspects in one film and for that I appreciate it. Land of the Lost is highly underrated, and I refuse to let anyone tell me otherwise.