THE LOST CITY (2022)

THE LOST CITY (2022)

Tagline: The Jungle Isn’t Ready For This Kind Of Action

(Action, Comedy, Romance) [PG-13]

You look like a disco ball…

In this one, a romance novelist is on a book tour and to her dismay, she really doesn’t want her books cover model tagging along. However, he ends up witnessing her kidnapping and attempts to save her after she is brought to the middle of the jungle in search of a priceless artifact that can only be found in THE LOST CITY.

First off, this isn’t a straight-up ROMANCING THE STONE remake, but it is a straight-up ROMANCING THE STONE homage with some pretty funny comedy thrown in. I don’t always like Channing Tatum, but he is awesome in this as Loretta Sage’s cover model simply referred to as “Alan”. Tatum has been in a lot of movies both good and horrendously bad, but my favorite movie of his is G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA.

Getting to the rest of the cast, we also have Sandra Bullock who has kept her career going strong well after her major movie hits SPEED and DEMOLITION MAN. She is fantastic in this, and lately, she’s been producing most of her own movies including this one. We also get Daniel Radcliffe as a duplicitous opportunist named Abigail Fairfax, and he’s also great in this. He doesn’t play a woman, but there is a comment about the name Abigail being not only for women somehow? Radcliffe is most famous for his role as HARRY POTTER, but most of his movies lately I just haven’t been all that interested to see. To round out the cast we get Brad Pitt (best known for WORLD WAR-Z) as Jack Trainer and Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Beth Hatten. To be honest, Beth is the best character in this movie and it’s got several good ones. Jack Trainer by the way is a nod to ROMANCING THE STONE. Jack was the name of the male lead in that movie and “Trainer” is the last name of the wife of Robert Zemeckis who directed ROMANCING THE STONE. 

What is great about this movie is the humor overall while still getting in a bit of romance and adventure. Wait…did I say that in my review for ROMANCING THE STONE? Anyway – while in real life the chemistry between Alan and Loretta isn’t that realistic in this, it does work for what the movie is trying to do. Almost all the characters in this movie are likable and the pace works to perfection. We don’t really have any dull moments even if some of the actual dialog is tedious at times. I also absolutely loved the soundtrack overall. There were several “this is the perfect song at the perfect time” moments. 

Where this movie kind of drops the ball is in the under-utilization of Brad Pitt. Love him or hate him, you don’t hire Brad Pitt for your movie and give him less than 10 minutes of screen time. Apparently, Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt became friends on the set of his movie BULLET TRAIN, so maybe the role was crammed in after the fact just for Pitt? Outside of that though I really don’t have any complaints, irrespective of a few script issues. 

Overall this is a pretty fun movie that I suggest at least checking out when it comes out on a streaming service. This doesn’t quite live up to ROMANCING THE STONE due to nostalgia, but it deserves the same rating I gave that movie just for Beth alone. I also plan on buying it if that helps you get an idea of my thoughts on this.

This one is a 5 out of 7. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

Please check out the link below by clicking on the picture. Because no one should die buttonless.