Day 2 of SPEED 2 Month covered a strange movie called A.I:
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. Strange in its history, its tale and the sheer amount
of people that actually find it a likable piece of entertainment. The same day
I watched A.I, I chose to temper it with another movie I had extreme
reservations about, the 2009 remake of the 1970’s era kid’s television program,
LAND OF THE LOST.
For some reason I’m hearing lots of chuckling in my head. I
wonder why.
LAND OF THE LOST the film is sort of a Will Ferrell vehicle,
so those that don’t like his particular style of acting likely gave this
forgotten, quirky flick a decidedly wide pass. Before I get too deep into the
movie, I want to bring up what it’s based on, the television series of the same
title.
When I was a lad, Saturday morning was still all the rage to
watch the best shows and cartoons. Yes, there were live-action shows then, too.
LAND OF THE LOST was one, where a park ranger and his kids get “accidentally”
sent to a land that is part prehistoric, inhabited with dinosaurs, and part
alien, with walking, talking lizard people called Sleestaks. The program was the
brainchild of the Sid and Marty Krofft studio, which had been putting all sorts
of mind bending kids shows on various networks since the sixties. As a kid, you
ignored the tiny budget because you were having so much fun watching it. Or, as
in my case, freaked out by the Sleestaks so much you can’t help but watch
anyway. The show does not hold up at all, outside of the basic premise, but
man, it was entertaining as a yout.
Returning to the movie, it’s hard to consider that it’s
anything other than a satire of the original series rather than a remake or
even homage. It isn’t just because Will Ferrell is the star, or that Danny
McBride, likely best known for his recent role in the HBO series EASTBOUND AND
DOWN, backs him up. It’s the sheer cheek and skewed humor that puts a whole
different spin on the fairly overused plot.
So if you can swallow Will Ferrell playing a paleontologist
that believes some form of time travel is possible, you can probably accept the
first 20 or so minutes of this flick, which will carry you into the next 80-odd
until the end. It’s completely silly and stupid but in a satirical way and not
mean spirited. Will Ferrell is himself, really and not working very hard here,
but if you enjoyed some of his real stinkers like SEMI-PRO, this is probably
going to be a winner for you.
In brief, because the plot is about as thin as a sheet of
paper, Ferrell and his sort-of assistant and groupie, actress Anna Friel, are
transported to a parallel world with a “theme park” owner played by Danny
McBride. In this weird world they lose the device that transported them and
have to locate it, saving a monkey-boy named Cha-ka on the way. I won’t even
mention the poor kid playing Cha-ka, it’s such a demeaning role. Also, I don’t
care to. Regardless, the quartet tries to locate the machine, running afoul of
the Sleestaks and an intelligent Tyrannosaurus Rex along the way. They find the
machine, save the world from the Sleestaks and leave Danny McBride behind to
give a reason for a sequel… or not. Also there is a small story device using
Matt Lauer that actually had me laughing out loud, which I really didn’t
expect, so there is that. Is it a dumb movie? O, hell yes. Is it better than
SPEED 2? O, hell yes. Here’s why.
SPEED 2 took a concept that won on many different counts and
completely destroyed it, ensuring that no more sequels would ever get made in
the (ahem) franchise. LAND OF THE LOST took a largely forgotten television show
aimed at kids, reformatted it for the now-grown up kids that watched it and
satirized it. Fans of the original (however many there might actually be)
likely either got that it was satire and enjoyed some of it or outright hated
it. I would assume that most just ignored it, considering the lack of box
office receipts, but that doesn’t matter here. Will Ferrell does his Will
Ferrell shtick, hitting with some laughs, missing with most, and still getting
a modicum of entertainment value. Anna Friel… well, she was there. Danny
McBride makes the most of the movie, mostly making fun of Will Ferrell’s
character, while ramping up the entertainment factor. Stealing the whole
shebang is the intelligent Tyrannosaurus Rex, bending anything done with them
since JURASSIC PARK and twisting any other thoughts of the dino for the entire
future. I really don’t want to give away the fun I got out of Mr. T-rex, I want
to see how many people have the guts to sit and watch LAND OF THE LOST and
prove me wrong. Yes, beating out SPEED 2 for creativity is a completely CGI
T-rex with no lines. And Danny McBride.
LAND OF THE LOST had a budget of 100 million dollars,
surprisingly. It probably could have been made for the entire budget of both
seasons of the tv series. It raked in a total of 69.5 million, most of which
was here in the States. For the studio it was likely produced to be a
loss-leader and write-off. Honestly, the most tragic thing of the movie is the
budget. Why make a stinker like this for that much money when it easily could
have been done for much, much less and get the exact same output? Tell me why,
I implore you.
Jan de Bont should watch LAND OF THE LOST and learn
something about proprietary budgets and the use of things like Leonard Nimoy,
who voiced one of the Sleestaks. Because, if Leonard Nimoy does work on a film,
it automatically trumps SPEED 2 for greatness.
Day 4 SPEED 2 Month takes a look at the movies of Sandra
Bullock, good and otherwise.
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