Title: Land of the Lost

Directed by: Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events)

Cast: Will Ferrell (Step Brothers, Blades of Glory), Danny R. McBride (East Bound and Down, The Foot Fist Way), Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) and Jorma Taccone.

Scores: Technical: 95, Story: 95, Acting: 99, Overall: 98

Going in to Land of the Lost I was reminded of my childhood… Sleestaks were one of the most terrifying creatures on television. I was hoping they could pull off taking a dramatic TV show and make it a relevant comedy.

Thanks to great acting, and a humorous script, they did.

WILL FERRELL (Step Brothers, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby) stars as has-been scientist Dr. Rick Marshall, a man with no weapons, few skills and questionable smarts who must survive an alternate universe full of marauding dinosaurs and fantastic creatures from beyond our world. Marshall has been sucked through a space-time vortex to a place of spectacular sights and super-scaled comedy known as the Land of the Lost.

Coming along with him for the adventure is a faithful research assistant Holly (ANNA FRIEL, Pushing Daisies, Timeline) and a redneck tour guide (DANNY MCBRIDE, Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express) named Will. Chased by T.rex and stalked by painfully slow reptiles known as Sleestak, Marshall, Will and Holly must rely on their only ally—a primate named Chaka (JORMA TACCONE, Saturday Night Live)—to navigate out of the hybrid dimension. If they can escape from this routine expedition gone awry then they’re heroes. Get stuck, and they’ll be permanent refugees in The Land of the Lost.

Based on the classic series created by television icons SID & MARTY KROFFT, Land of the Lost is directed by BRAD SILBERLING (Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Casper) and produced by JIMMY MILLER (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Step Brothers) and Sid & Marty Krofft.

I was trying not to expect too much, I was an avid watcher of the original T.V. series, which was a drama, and this is clearly going to be a parody comedy. I was pleasantly surprised by the likability factor of all the characters. I think Will Ferrell is usually an acquired taste, as is Danny Mcbride, but they were fantastic. Immediately the movie will have you laughing from start to finish, (and many times throughout the film, the audiences’ laughter was so loud you could not hear the dialogue) I don’t want to give away any parts of the movie but, the huge mosquito part was hilarious. Also, the sleestaks’ extra row of teeth make them even more scary than before.

If you like comedies, I definitely suggest you go see Land of the Lost. It has laughs galore and extremely funny actors that pull off one-liners that no one else could manage.

By Dave Minyard