The first time round it was a cheesy 70s TV sitcom that raised an occasional giggle from younger generations; now it’s been made into a whole 93 minutes of cringeworthy production, with a cast that tries way too hard to make something of it.
We can only wonder why and how Will Ferrell is still allowed in front of the camera, but perhaps it’s his ability to happily make a fool out of himself that got him the lead role in what looks sure to be another flop. He plays Dr Rick Marshall, a has-been scientist who has been kicked out of his job because of his theories on time warps and is now teaching in a museum. His assistant (Friel) convinces him to turn his time travel designs into a machine – and would you believe it, the thing works ... except that they’re sucked into a parallel universe where all timelines converge. Fighting off dinosaurs, ape men and a variety of other weird and wonderful creatures, the friends find themselves on a hunt for their time travel machine and home.
Drawn loosely from the original TV series, the film grasps desperately at pulling together an entertaining comedy and fails. Crude jokes and an overload of sketches leaves this rusty remake lost in humour and reaffirms the fact that Ferrell’s acting career is indeed laughable.
Land of the Lost – Dir Brad Silberling, starring Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride
[Originally published in Abu Dhabi Week vol 2 issue 25]
