In retrospect, “Land of the Lost” may have been an unwise investment. Made at a cost of $100 million, this Brad Silberling-directed adaptation of Sid and Marty Croft's '70s Saturday morning adventure series finds General they can share with themselves. Zoomer kids at their nearby multiplex. Given the complexity of the original show, Silberling and writing duo Chris Hennessy and Dennis McNicholas recruited a formidable comedy quartet of Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Jorma Taccone and Jorma Taccone to craft a parody of their source material. Friel (as an incredibly upright woman) delivers many yuks while fleeing from deer and giant prehistoric beasts.
The film grossed $69 million in the summer of 2009, either a major commercial disappointment or a bomb depending on your hyperbole threshold. Whatever you call it, the number was good, and that's why we haven't seen the dachshund suit as the furry, possibly psychotic chaca we have been for the past 15 years.
It is a cinematic tragedy. “Land of the Lost” doesn't work as an adventure, but that's the point. The overconfident Dr. Watching Chaka repeatedly try to kill Rick Marshall is thrilling in its own right and spectacularly funny. Or how about Ferrell and McBride (always a great team) with theme park owner Will Stanton singing an Autotune duet to Cher's “Believe” through antique glass?
“Land of the Lost” doesn't mean much, nor should it. It's an excuse to play on a childhood favorite with funny, inappropriate jokes that border on an R rating. Clearly, it's not an appealing formula for moviegoers, and that's their loss. They missed some big laughs, especially the one elicited during a sequence in which Rick, Will, and Chaka unexpectedly find themselves feasting on giant crab legs (all of which, unsurprisingly, are improvised).
Improvisation inspired by Magic Hour Light
The scene in question begins when the three-quarters stumble upon a motel in the desert. Hungry, they cut a mysterious fruit with psychotropic properties, giving rise to the famous scene in the establishment's pool.
Finally, the three of them are basically motionless in the desert, at which point a giant crab runs towards them. The kids don't do well until they suck the crab underwater and spit it out in chunks on the sand in front of them. Now eating the moving tackle, the bow and the chaca crab legs, filled with lemonade.
What happened to Silberling was unbridled joy. As the director told SyFy:
“Okay, let's take things to the next level, what happens if you boil the crab? These guys are drunk anyway, so let's build a giant lemon slice. That whole sequence of them eating it and tripping over balls. [was] Everything is completely improvised, which is why the camera comes in, but never turns off. We timed it for the exact moment of Magic Hour, so there was a certain amount of risk. But God, they are killing me.”
The scene shows Rick, after being buried with his friend (again, who has been chasing him for most of the movie), promising to kiss his new friend on the tongue. It sounds ridiculous and it is ridiculous. I hesitate to call it “genius,” but it is, like the rest of “Land of the Lost,” indescribably hilarious.
“Land of the Lost 2?” Is it necessary? We don't need a “Land of the Lost.” But now that it's there I want more and it hurts me a lot to know that we will never get it.
