Movie Review: The Lost City

credit: The Lost City

Movies like this are kind of fun, especially from the standpoint of being a writer, since it’s amusing to see Hollywood get some things right and exaggerate other elements that simply don’t happen that often. The Lost City is a good example of how things can get blown way out of proportion since the idea that an author is going to seek to get things right through historical research is accurate, but think that many of them are going to be onsite, or will be abducted by an eccentric billionaire is kind of a stretch, hence the amusement and the need to think that it’s a little out there. But it does make for an interesting story, which is kind of the point since the point of a good story is to go above and beyond the norm sometimes to get the attention of the audience. This movie focuses on Dr. Loretta Sage, the loss that has turned her into a recluse, and the opportunities waiting to bring her out of her shell. 

credit: The Lost City

Daniel Radcliffe isn’t that effective as a villain. 

Either the former star of the Harry Potter movies doesn’t know how to play a villain, or someone is directing him to be one of the goofiest versions of a villain possible to retain some of that good guy credibility. The same thing happened in another movie titled Now You See Me 2 when he played the villainous Walter Mabry, who was also a bit eccentric. He’s not a bad actor, but installing him as a villain makes it clear that one can’t take him that seriously since he doesn’t look the part, and he doesn’t know how to create a believable character. In truth, he feels more like an aggravated toddler that’s been up past his nap time than a serious villain that can do a great deal of damage. Granted, this movie is a comedic action feature, but trying to think of Daniel Radcliffe as a severe villain still isn’t easy since he’s not an imposing character. Maybe that was the point, though. 

The movie did come together in an exciting way. 

Between the cast, the dialogue, and the action, it was a fun movie without question it was the type of movie that one can’t help but feel is kind of goofy in a way, but also entertains the audience since the dynamic between the actors is great enough that it feels natural in a way. It’s interesting whenever one gets to see Channing Tatum in a role that makes him appear foolish in this manner, but he rocked the role in a way that made it believable and didn’t damage his reputation since he’s built up so much credibility over the years. The fact that actors can build up their reputation in one way or another is great since it means they can take on roles that might be a bit of a surprise, considering that they’re not allowed to appear as strong or as confident as they usually do in other movies. For Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt, the roles they were given felt instead natural since they’ve been seen as these types of characters more than once in the past. 

credit: The Lost City

It almost feels like Brad Pitt could have been replaced. 

Quite a few people might disagree with this since Brad Pitt is a huge name to put in a movie and is a great actor on top of that. He’s also shown up in several movies that have given him smaller supporting roles and have otherwise ignored his character at times. The fact that his image was seen in Deadpool 2 for a matter of a couple of seconds was kind of funny since a lot of people had no idea they were going to see him. But in this movie he played an interesting part since a lot of people were shocked to think that he was dead after performing such a daring rescue. If folks stuck around for the mid-credits scene though, they would have been surprised again to find out that his character survived. 

At the end of the day, this movie was fun, which is kind of the point. 

It wasn’t meant to be too serious and it wasn’t meant to be uproariously funny, so in all honesty, The Lost City worked on a few levels that made it an enjoyable experience. It might not cater to everyone’s sense of humor and it might be something that people would rather criticize than praise. But the point is that it works for what it is, and that’s all that really matters. 

But no, Daniel Radcliffe is not a convincing villain, and I will fight someone on that point. Well, not really, but I stand by my statement.