The Lost City

The Lost City

Reclusive author Loretta Sage writes about exotic places in her popular adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan. While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she can lead him to the ancient city's lost treasure that featured in her latest story. Alan, determined to prove he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, sets off to rescue her.

  • Released: 2022-03-24
  • Runtime: 112 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Comedy, Romance
  • Stars: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Brad Pitt, Patti Harrison, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar Núñez, Raymond Lee, Thomas Forbes-Johnson, Héctor Aníbal, Katherine Montes, Danny Radhames Vasquez Castillo, Adam Nee, Bowen Yang, Sli Lewis, Olga Bucarelli, Omar Patin, Anthony Alvarez, Ryan Orr, Alex Schoenauer, Edwin Polanco, Marcy Jarreau, Cynthia Oroz, Carolina Rohana, Jonathan Lev, Toussaint Merionne, Luinis Olaverria, Emerson Gonzalez, Wilson Ureña, Roger Wasserman, Stephen Lang, Ryan Judd, Zachary Steel, Marcos Sánchez, Zain Ullah, Joan Pringle, Ryan Orr
  • Director: Aaron Nee, Adam Nee
 Comments
  • jlpicard1701E - 18 June 2024
    Romancing the Stone it's not...
    So many people, including some critics, insist to compare this movie to "Romancing the Stone", made in 1984 and starring. Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, but in reality this is a far cry from that adventure/comedy movie.

    It starts in a very predictable way, typical of recent Hollywood movies and the pace is quite slow, and then moves on trying to be comedic, but all I could see was a weak attempt at comedy which failed me completely.

    It looks and sounds like it was made for absent-minded teenagers, or at least like a nostalgic movie in which either the director or the cast, or both, decided to slip back to their younger years.

    And indeed, even by the dialogue in it one can clearly see how lackluster the writing must have been.

    To add damage to the entire thing, there are even musical passages clearly reminiscing Star Wars (particularly the Darth Vader's March).

    Sandra Bullock is uninspiring as the writer turning to adventure woman and stumbles around probably trying to recapture her earlier successes when she was much younger, such as in "Speed" and "Miss Congeniality" but without ever succeeding, which makes me ask why?

    Probably middle age crisis?

    And Channing Tatum is certainly not a new Michael Douglas, nor does he have the true charm necessary to play a heart breaker, or even a genuine adventurer/explorer. He appears stiff and flat, not really what makes a woman swoon for a hunk of a man.

    Granted, times have changed since 1984, and women can go their own way anyway, but this rises another question: why then the need of a male counterpart?

    And in reality, there is more unnecessary and useless banter than indeed real action in "The Lost City", as if the director was not really sure what he was actually directing, never making up his mind whether this should be an adventure or comedy movie, or both.

    Such incompetence and inept approach can be expected by a first time director and by freshly cooked actors, just out of an acting academy, but certainly not from seasoned and already affirmed names.

    I don't know if it is just me and my age, or if it is indeed the way movies go these days that make me doubt in the logic of producing, directing and acting in such shabby movies.

    To me it's just money thrown out of the window, completely wasted in utterly forgettable movies, and let me be blunt: I have seen much better movies made by amateurs or independent movie makers than this, and at a very stringent and lower cost indeed.

    I sat throughout the movie expecting some originality, or at least a "Romancing the Stone" moment but without seeing or hearing one. Probably because it also lacked yet another component: an actor a la Danny DeVito.

    Oh yes, have we already forgotten that part of "Romancing the Stone" success was also due to this great actor and comedian? Indeed, if at least they could have come up with a similar character, this could probably have saved the day, but they forgot all about it.

    And again, granted, it is not very easy to find someone like Danny DeVito, capable to scramble situations into really tense, but very funny moments in time.

    Be it as it may, I didn't laugh during the entire movie and calling it entertaining, is a big word. Too big if one also compares it to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or "The Last Crusade".

    Just trying to compare those three movies to "The Lost City" would be a great offense to those other movie makers and actors, who actually knew what they were doing and did it so very well. So much so, that even to this day "RtS", "RotLA" and "TLC" are considered some of the best adventure movies ever made.

    And so, just one more question remains to be answered: why do it?

    At the stage in which Sandra Bullock now stands she could indeed choose better projects for herself, instead of such stupid efforts.

    Is it the need for money? I doubt it. Is it fear of aging and not being able to shine as a young woman anymore? Quite frankly, seeing how intelligent Sandra otherwise is, I would discount it.

    So then, why, oh why, does she do it?

    Only she can answer such a question, but indeed, she must admit that she could do so much more with her own career than appearing in such demented projects.

    To conclude, I am really disappointed by this entire movie, which as said, has been so often compared to "Romancing the Stone", that I fell into the trap.

    I must admit though, that on a purely advertising aspect of it all, it was rather a good gimmick to drag an unaware person back to watch this poorly executed product.

    A great bravo goes to all those who concocted such a stunt, which indeed works wonders, but only to educate people not to trust them a second time.

    A reason more to choose your flicks more carefully and not trust in all the hear say of both critics and audiences in the future.
  • Davalon-Davalon - 16 March 2024
    A few laughs; otherwise, an embarrassment
    There is no question that Sandra Bullock has comedic timing. That said, looking at her career trajectory, other than a paycheck, I cannot imagine what drew her to this third-rate jungle adventure story.

    The trailer is funnier than the movie, that's the first thing you should know. Second, Sandra has already done her "rom-com" films. To go back to one at this point, especially one of this poor quality, was a terrible decision.

    I'm not going to detail the plot because basically it's pointless. I'll just say that if someone important in your life dies, if you are still depressed and unable to function five years after the fact, you need therapy. You don't need to be sitting in a chair or bathtub, staring out sadly at the world.

    Channing Tatum, while quite attractive, and whose bare posterior might even be more attractive, seems clumsy and awkward and doltish throughout.

    Brad Pitt makes a riveting cameo and he is the only thing in this misbegotten mess that is worth watching. In fact, when he's "taken out," the movie is essentially over. You'll think you're supposed to keep watching it; trust me, it's over.

    Yes, there are jokes; there are several that I laughed at for several minutes; those jokes should just be made into a short reel, because they are the only things worth seeing (well, those and Channing's defined behind).

    Sandra... please. You need not do these movies anymore. Or if you do, then get a better management team who can find you better material. I felt like someone said, "This is funny! Let's get Sandra." Sandra looked at her calendar and said, "Yeah, I'm free for 10 days next month; let's do it." And that was the end of the discussion.

    A complete and total misfire. The 3 stars are for the jokes and Channing's bottom.