The Lost City - Film Review
Those that read my Jungle Cruise review will know that I’m a sucker for a pulpy adventure movie, so you can imagine how I felt when I saw the trailers for this one. I haven’t seen Sandra Bullock in anything since Bird Box, so it’s great to see she’s still got her mojo.
1Where You Can Find It: I saw this in theater where it is currently available to see, but it is also expected to appear for streaming on Paramount Plus later this year.
General Information
The
Lost City is an action-adventure comedy film that was released on 25
May 2022. It was directed by the Nee brothers who co-wrote it alongside
Oren Uziel and Dana Fox. Jonathan Sela provided the cinematography for
this film, and Pinar Toprak handled the scoring. It was produced under
Fortis Films and was distributed by Paramount Pictures. As of 5 May
2022, the film has hauled in nearly $150 million at the box office, which is against a relatively restrained approximate $72 million budget. Critically, it holds a 60 Metascore rating on Metacritic next to a 78% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Story
After
the death of her archaeologist husband, romance-adventure novelist,
Loretta Sage (played by Sandra Bullock), has lost her spark as a writer
and decides to hang up her keyboard for good after one last book.
Loretta’s intense publicist, Beth (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), and cover
model, Dash McMahon (Channing Tatum), vehemently oppose her retirement
decision, but the entire argument gets sidelined when Sage is kidnapped
by the wealthy socialite, Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe). Fairfax
believes Loretta’s latest book points to clues to finding a lost
treasure on a small, volcanic island and will stop at nothing to get his
hands on it. When the police refuse to help, Dash takes it upon himself
(as well as a yoga instructor) to get the novelist back. Together,
Loretta and Dash will have to escape Fairfax’s evil schemes and track
down the hidden secrets of the lost city.
 2 |
| Loretta and Dash are on a race to find the Crown of Fire before Fairfax does |
It might seem like I’m spoiling most of the film with my synopsis of its opening act, but The Lost City hits the ground running fairly early on and doesn’t catch its breath until near the end of the second act. I honestly thought this was okay to an extent as it kept the action going and the one-liners seemed endless. When the momentum finally eases back though, it’s certainly noticeable and makes it feel longer than it arguably is. Some of this issue probably could’ve been helped out by snipping some of the segments involving Beth’s attempts to track down Loretta and Dash. Da-Vine Joy Randolph was funny to see, but her scenes got tiring and broke up the flow of the rest of the plot.
I can’t believe I’m griping about this again so soon, but Hollywood really needs to stop with the forced romance angles in their films. It annoyed the hell out of me in The Batman and Jungle Cruise and it’s just as problematic here. Although I think they both do a great job with comedy and action, I never bought Dash and Loretta as anything more than friends. If they do a sequel, I hope they sort of forget that aspect of this film.
There was more than one occasion when this film’s special effects reminded me of The Mummy Returns, but I think it set out to do what it needed to do (at least we didn’t see another awful image of CGI Dwayne Johnson). Bombastic set pieces and CGI backgrounds are part and parcel for most modern day action movies and this is no exception in that realm. None of it looks particularly awful per se, but there were certainly some brief segments near the end where the green screen got pretty egregious. I will admit there’s a part involving leeches that made me both squeamish and giggly at the same time.
 3 |
| Viewers get to see all sorts of aspects of the tropics in this film |
Since the days of Speed and Miss Congeniality, I’ve always appreciated Sandra Bullock’s quirky approach to acting. At this point, some might almost consider it to be shtick than anything else, but it works here. Bullock easily conveys Loretta Sage’s exhaustion and weariness over what’s already happened in her life and it’s interesting to see how she seems to come more alive as the film progresses.
Similarly, Tatum never ceases to surprise me by demonstrating excellent comedic timing with his own level of quirkiness. I found him extremely funny in 21 Jump Street, but I always noted that as more of a one-off since he’s more famous for playing the beefcake in films like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra or Magic Mike. This film cements his status as a funny guy and I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for more comedies that he stars in.
 4 |
| Tatum brings the laughs as the shameless Dash McMahon |
A final mention worth bringing up is the treasure that is Daniel Radcliffe. The man has clearly outgrown his Harry Potter roots, and I’m increasingly intrigued to watch anything he’s in. Radcliffe has a blast playing the villainous Fairfax and it makes me wish for more stuff where he plays a bad guy. We don’t get to see much of him until the third act, but it’s an absolute joy to see him ordering henchmen around and making unintimidating threats.
The Best of the Best: When Dash gets a moped.
The Worst of the Worst: Beth’s hijinks while trying to hitch a ride to the island got old real fast.
Calhooey Score: 6/10 - Above Average
Would I Recommend?
 5 |
| It’s worth looking for |
The Lost City is a fun adventure with some solid laughs and enough action to keep you in your seat until the very end. I had a lot of fun with this one and I think most people who are into action comedies will too. I’d recommend this when it hits streaming services. If you’re a hardcore fan of Sandra Bullock or Channing Tatum, I might even recommend that it’s worth seeing in theaters.
- That book debut on-stage that Beth set up was so genuinely funny. Hearing that emcee repeatedly say “mount it” still cracks me up.
- Having Dash swoop in while Europe’s “The Final Countdown” plays was equally grin-inducing.
- All that food in Fairfax’s penthouse was totally wasted. My grandparents would have had a fit if they saw that.
- The cherry on top of Trainer, Loretta, and Dash using a wheelbarrow to cart Loretta to safety was that Dash was “helping” by holding her foot up.
- Also: Pat Benatar rocks!
- It was just around the time that I thought things were getting too easy when Jack Trainer got shot in the head.
- I love that he somehow survived that.
- Those local villagers seem a little too calm about their situation since the volcano that makes up most of their island appears quite active.
- Like Oscar, I too was quite curious as to what Fairfax had planned when he went for his little run around the boat.
(2) Holmes, L. (2022, March 25). Loretta and Dash image. NPR. Retrieved from: https://www.npr.org/2022/03/25/1088521855/lost-city-movie-review-sandra-bullock-channing-tatum.
(3) The Lost City. (n.d.). Sucking on my butt gif. Giphy. Retrieved from: https://giphy.com/clips/LostCityMovie-paramount-the-lost-city-movie-GzIFjoPZmhof8G8zuj.
(4) The Lost City. (n.d.). Channing Tatum hello gif. Giphy. Retrieved from: https://giphy.com/gifs/LostCityMovie-paramount-the-lost-city-movie-p6MZnLrgtnKeXndv7H.
(5) The Lost City. (2022). Fairfax on a boat image. IMDB. Retrieved from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13320622/.
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