Movie Review: Land of the Lost

Friday night, I finally made it out to see the new Will Ferrell comedy, Land of the Lost, while my kids went to see “Night at the Museum 2″. They got the better end of the deal. (Warning Spoilers)

The Good: The set design was very good. I can’t argue at all with the look of the movie. The creatures were real enough, with just enough camp to be a Krofft production.

Anna Friel, Will Ferrell, and Jorma Taccone (Chaka) did a pretty good job keeping me into the movie. Mostly, with the exception of the many Ferrell-isms, they were taking the story seriously, and it kept me engaged.

I had one (sorry just one) laugh out loud moment in the film. As Marshall, Will and Chaka are lying stoned in the desert, a giant crab appears to attack, but falls in a volcanic sinkhole. It pops back up, and breaks into pieces…perfectly steamed. Which the trio proceed to eat. The comic timing (editing) was perfect, and made me laugh.

The Bad: This was a terrible movie. It didn’t know what it wanted to be. In the beginning the it kind of comes across as a serious movie (other than the over the top part of the Matt Lauer scene). Rick Marshall is supposed to be a brilliant scientist who is cast out of main stream science for his theories, and at the beginning of the movie he appears to be (think Doc Brown from Back to the Future). Why was he such a buffoon later on? How could that person have built the device?

Also, having read A Brief History of Time, The Cosmos Explained, Parallel Worlds and Hyperspace, I know that “main stream science” has embraced theories like Rick Marshall’s. Maybe I’m over thinking it, but why did this have to be about a failed scientist. The only thing that would have to be eliminated or adjusted was the Matt Lauer storyline. And it wasn’t that funny anyway.

The boob jokes were over-used and just became annoying after awhile. A child asking “do dinosaurs have boobies” was cute, but out of place. Will’s description of the boob-mugs that he sold in his store was just strange. The first time Chaka grabs Holly’s breast was funny. The next twelve times (at least) that someone grabbed Holly’s chest was forced and annoying.

Several other things were just confusing. They set up for Zarn to be an ally, but then Marshal killed the Sleestaks that were loyal to Zarn. Enik was supposed to be hurt, but he was fine after the gang found him, and nobody seemed to notice. Why did Marshall treat Chaka like crap?

What I assume were ad-libs between Ferrell and McBride were very out of place. They seemed to be having their own little battle going, and in different context, might have been funny. I found it to be distracting, and pulled me out of the movie. I’m a fan of Ferrell comedies, and this was just weird.

Conclusion:
I wouldn’t blame the story/script because it did have potential. My blame, after watching the film, is placed on director Brad Silberling. He didn’t maintain enough control of the film, or he didn’t give up enough to Ferrell. What we got was a mismatched film that goes nowhere. I might have enjoyed “Anchorman with Dinosaurs”.

Land of the Lost bombs, and why I didn’t see it.

It was the most obvious pick; the one with the dinosaurs. How could that miss? Sid and Marty Krofft have a treasure trove of creations to pick from, and a fountain of talent in their souls. What happened?

When you adapt an existing story for the big-screen, liberties must be taken. But you can’t change the heart of the story, or it becomes a completely different movie in which you stole a title to make.

The story is not always current, or relevant. For example, Thundarr the Barbarian couldn’t have the world end in 1994; things have to be adjusted. Fellowship of the Ring couldn’t have had the amount of exposition that existed in the novel, we’d all have fallen asleep. CGI dinosaurs need updated to look more realistic…right? Well how come LOTL dinosaurs look more cartoony than Jurrassic Park 16 years ago? Granted, I’m just judging the dinos in the trailer on TV, but that’s where I watched JP, so it’s an even compare.

TheMovieBlog:
The action in the film was pretty weak too. I lost count of how many times we saw Ferrell running away from something BIG… then cut to another angle and suddenly the thing chasing him is even further away. Constantly using that exact same mistake took any of the tension or excitement out of the movie. Why get my heart pounding when I know in two seconds the T-Rex will magically be 200 yards further behind him. If was strange the first time it happened… then it just got flat out annoying.

Special effects aside, there were many, many issues with LOTL, as reviews say:

The Daily Iowan:
Ferrell is his usual self, but that is another major problem: We’ve seen this character before. He’s loud, dumb, arrogant, and naked (imagine Ron Burgundy as a scientist). It’s frustrating for the audience, because we want to laugh. We really do. But he’s not providing anything for us — in fact, everything he’s presenting seems to be grabbed out of the recycling bin.

The LA Times:
Like its characters, the film keeps getting lost too, stumbling as it struggles to keep kids and adults from squirming in their seats. There’s a crowd-pleasing, clever T. rex named Grumpy fighting for screen time with a bad and long-running gag built around Chaka grabbing one of Holly’s breasts every time he tries to say her name. Meanwhile, Ferrell is his likable Ferrell self, nothing new or especially exciting to report on that front.

And there’s the element of the movie that prevented me from going. All the reviews are consistent in their description (even the good reviews):

Cinematical:
Most importantly, and in the interest of protecting young, corruptible minds, Land of the Lost is absolutely not for children. There’s at least one f-bomb, Rick and Will talk about Sleestaks “tapping that ass,” and there are multiple sequences in which our heroes are violently threatened by a Tyrannosaurus – although he is nicknamed Grumpy.

What?? Not for children?? F-bomb??? Tapping that ass??? It’s based on a children’s television show! I’m speechless. I’ve been preparing my 5 children their entire lives for this movie…and I can’t even show it to them. Granted, my 12 and 13 year olds would be fine seeing it, but I don’t believe my 7 year old daughter is ready for it (the same daughter I spent most of Memorial Day watching the SciFi marathon). The whole family was supposed to go to opening night. Instead, we rewatched Journey to the Center of the Earth again.

My take on this is that they let Will Ferrel have to much control, and he took it too far. Without Ferrel, this movie probably doesn’t get made (at least yet). Ferrel turned it into his own brand of R-rated humor ( which I sometimes enjoy — Anchorman, etc.), but isn’t suited for a kids film. The film synopsis now seems more like the Saturday Night Live parody of the TV show.

Well Krofft fans, this is OUR Phantom Menace. We waited along time for this and….Sid and Marty deserved better. This is more like our holiday special, and the creators will even want to someday forget it.

I promise, I will see the movie and give a proper review of the film itself. I’ll go in expecting an Anchorman or Old School type of movie, and review it on it’s own merit. But nothing will erase the disappointment I’ll have not having my little daughter sitting next to me.

Land of the Lost “Not for kids”???

Here we are, 16 hours from the release of Sid and Marty Krofft’s Land of the Lost and reviews are coming in from all over. Good or bad, the review I didn’t expect to see was from the St. Petersburg Times, “‘Land of the Lost’ remake rude, crude and definitely not for kids”.

No matter how much creators Sid and Marty Krofft talk up the movie’s devotion to the TV show’s spirit, I don’t recall Chaka the caveboy being chronically horny, or Rick Marshall gulping dino-urine and being sprayed with dino-loogies. The language here would’ve made my parents turn off the TV set.

Land of the Lost is just another rude, crude Hollywood ripoff capitalizing on fond pre-cable memories, like Starsky and Hutch and The Dukes of Hazzard before it.

After reading that, I started to think of the numerous clips that have been shown for LOTL and came to a unhappy realization that he may be correct. Recently, my kids (ages 8-14) have watched the entire series over again via the new DVDs. Part of the charm of the show was the unapologetic innocence. I would be a shame if they’ve lost that.

I’m still going to give LOTL a chance, and Sid and Marty the benefit of the doubt (that worked out so well with George Lucas). I’ll be there tomorrow with my entire family. No matter the quality, I hope that it’s a success so that someday I’ll be writing about the Sigmund, Pufnstuf and hopefully Lidsville movie.

There was one funny quote in the article that I’ll leave you with:

Plans are in the works for a movie version of the Kroffts’ psychedelic series H.R. Pufnstuf that recreational drug users in the ’70s enjoyed as much as the kids. Judging by this remake, it’ll be called Pineapple Express II.

For more reviews of Land of the Lost:

Associated Press

The Portland Mercury

Kansas City Star

Check back this weekend for the KROFFT.NET Review!

DVD Review: Pufnstuf

I hadn’t seen the Pufnstuf movie in many years. The only time I did see it was a very fuzzy copy I’d obtained from Australia, where it had shown on television. I don’t remember it much, so my review of this DVD was fresh. I also haven’t watched any of the series in a few years.

The Story:

The movie begins showing how Jimmy landed in Living Island, being an outcast from his middle school band. Subsequently, Pufnstuf and the gang take him in and protect him from the Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo. The B-story is Witchiepoo hosting the Witches Convention for Boss Witch (Martha Raye). The movie can somewhat be considered a combination of the pilot and “The Visiting Witch” S1E14.

The Good:

Pufnstuf still holds up. My 9 year old son watched it with me and really enjoyed it. It felt bigger than a TV episode, while still retaining the Krofft TV feel. Even my wife (not a huge Krofft fan) found the movie enjoyable. In all, its good for it’s time.

This movie is another example of how much Billie Hayes contributed to the success of Sid and Marty Krofft. She shines as Witchiepoo. Her performance in the movie is what makes it fun to watch.

The Bad:

I have nothing bad to say about the movie, but plenty bad to say about the DVD. First of all, there was NO remastering done. None at all. In several scenes the lip-sync was visibly off, and it wasn’t fixed. I don’t understand that, it is a simple task. Why wouldn’t they fix it? There were many other things that could have been remastered, that weren’t, but the audio syncing was distracting. No excuse.

Secondly, there were no extras on the DVD. Only the theatrical trailer could be counted as an “extra”. No interviews? No nostalgic look back by the cast? I hope that when the new Pufnstuf movie debuts in a few years that this DVD is updated with those extras. Krofft fans are very loyal and would pay almost any price for a peek into the Krofft archives. Why won’t they give it to us?

Lastly, was Pufnstuf’s voice. It was incredibly distracting. It was like someone was trying to impersonate Pufnstuf. I do not believe it was Lennie Weinrib who was doing the voice. My 8 year old son and my wife also noticed it (without me mentioning it). I’d use modern technology and change the voice to more closely match.

Conclusion:

Even though the DVD release is nothing special, it’s worth the $10.49.