The Lost City review: A formulaic adventure story over-reliant on familiar tropes

2/5

Story:
Renowned romance novelist Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire named Abigail Farifax (Daniel Radcliffe) in order to use her expertise as a former archaeologist to discover an ancient artefact in the mythical Lost City of D. Loretta’s cover model for her novels, Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum), who secretly has feelings for her, enlists the help of Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt) to rescue her.

Review:
Harrison Ford burst onto the silver screens nearly 50 years ago donning his trademark hat and whip as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost. The films have inspired several reimaginations in film, television, literature, and video games. Certain films such as The Mummy, The Tomb Raider and Uncharted video game franchises have elevated the genre, evolving and reinventing it over the decades. However, it has also spawned a few adventure films that have failed to emulate the standards set by films that have come before them. The Lost City, unfortunately, falls into this category of films that failed to leave a distinctive mark of their own.

The star-studded ensemble of Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, and Brad Pitt does give the impression of a potential blockbuster. But apart from Radcliffe’s surprisingly authentic take as an eccentric billionaire, and Pitt’s brief cameo as an all-action ‘superhero-esque’ character, the lead protagonists, Bullock and Tatum, essay cliched roles. Bullock, in particular, appears uninterested throughout the narrative, similar to how her character also appears to be uninterested in everything around. Tatum’s Alan is depicted as someone who is not the brightest and lacks a thoroughly fleshed out arc apart from a few moments of forced exposition.

The idea of a novelist and her cover model inadvertently finding themselves in the middle of an adventure just like the many stories the novelist has written certainly does peak one’s interest. But the adventure itself fails to keep one invested in the storyline as there is a significant scarcity of palpable action in the second act of the film. An argument could be made that the film is attempting to be a parody of the formulaic adventure films, but it fails to distinguish itself to be identified as a spoof. Even the humour lacks punch and relies on shock and awe rather than well-written dialogue and visual comedy through nuanced editing.

Apart from a few half-decent stunts from Pitt’s character earlier on in the film, the technical aspects of the film fail to impress as well. Films such as the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island, despite its shortcomings, managed to set themselves apart by offering striking visuals and vibrant sound design. It is quite disappointing that two of the treasure hunter films released this year, The Lost City and Uncharted have fallen flat. Directed by Aaron Nee and Adam Lee, The Lost City, is a very obvious case of ‘What might’ve been’. More emphasis on the juxtaposition of the fictional characters created by Loretta, Dr Angela Lovemore and Dash McMahon, and Loretta herself and Alan, would have been ideal avenues to explore and elevate the film. Ultimately, the final product is a generic film built on the foundations of frequently recycled tropes.

Verdict:
Shackled by an uninspired script and a formulaic narrative, the film is fighting a losing battle with itself to identify as a self-aware parody of the treasure hunter trope or as a serious film about existentialism. Unfortunately, it falls flat on all accounts, barring a surprisingly convincing performance by Radcliffe as the primary antagonist.