'Land of the Lost' is Dumb Fun!

Will Ferrell is an actor that I've had a love/hate relationship with. If he does a movie acting like Will Ferrell, he's just not funny. If he pretends to be another character, then his comedy works. Thankfully he doesn't dive too deep in the Will well in Universal's Land of the Lost, a completely f**king retarded but entertaining as hell picture to sit through.

Dr. Rick Marshall (Ferrell) is a scientist with theories about the possibility of quantum time warps. Banished by the scientific community, especially after a disastrous appearance on The Today Show with Matt Lauer, Rick finds himself teaching grade school kids as a means to support himself. When Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel), a student of his teachings tells him his theories have a solid foundation, the two go out to the desert to try out Rick's machine that harnesses the energies needed to open a time wormhole that can place you where the past, present, and future converge. It just so happens that the best place to test out the machine is in a rickety, crappy water ride built by Will Stanton (Danny McBride) and the three end up being sucked into a vortex that transports them to a strange land.

Based off of the awful Sid and Marty Krofft television show from the ‘70s, Land of the Lost is a movie that intentionally (or accidentally) keeps the cheese factor high in its presentation. This is a movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it isn't. The plot is stupid, nothing makes any sense, the Sleestak bad guys are now extra creepy with added CGI mouths, and Grumpy the T-Rex takes up too much screen time. But despite its faults, Land of the Lost is just plain fun.

While some of Ferrell's shtick doesn't work, a lot of his scenes are pretty amusing. He tries to play the character straight and his interaction with Cha-Ka (Jorma Taccone) a young simian creature who at times helps and hinders our party usually incites a laugh. There are also some funny scenes between Rick and his party, especially when the others realize that the T-Rex is only after Rick because Rick said he had a brain the size of a walnut.

And that's really why Land of the Lost works at the end. It never tries to switch tones by becoming a serious science fiction film or a scary horror movie with the appearance of the slow moving reptilian Sleestak. But I'm not sure how they can market this movie. If the goal was to get kids in the theater to introduce them to a world their fathers grew up with, they may have failed. There's too much adult language with adult situations that aren't appropriate for 8-year-olds. While I laughed my butt off at Ferrell silently mouthing 'f**k you' to Cha-Ka, and McBride and Ferrell watching two Sleestak get it on while wondering if one was going to "tap that a**," I don't think parents will appreciate it.

Had this movie been rated PG, I think it would have been more accessible for a younger crowd. Right now its appeal is restricted to Ferrell fans and fans of the original television show. Despite its faults, Land of the Lost is a fun time at the movies. I'm a strong advocate for films that make you think, and I'm sick of today's dumbed down Hollywood. But when the movie you’re watching knows it’s cheesy and stupid, then there's no point in arguing with it. Just go along for the ride and lose yourself in the absurdity of it all for 90 minutes.— George “El Guapo” Roush

Latino Review Rating: B