The Lost City

Romance novelist Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has hit a wall, both in her writing and personal life. Forced into making nauseating promotional appearances alongside her cover model Alan (Channing Tatum) by her publicist Beth (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), Loretta soon finds herself thrust into an adventure against her will when she is kidnapped by billionaire Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), who hopes to discover the same hidden treasure she has written about in her fictional stories. Desperate to prove he is more than just a pretty face, Alan sets off to the remote island to save her, recruiting help from an old friend along the way.

In a time when laughs are needed, The Lost City is a good old fashioned action comedy that really satisfies the tastebuds. Its foundations are built upon the kind of popcorn movie that bombarded our screens in the 2000s, something we have been pining for ever since the trend petered out, and although the film doesn’t take itself too seriously, at the same time it delivers exactly what the audience wants in perfectly timed fashion.

The plot moves fast to begin with, wasting no time in transporting us to a remote jungle island alongside the kidnapped Loretta, but character building is reasonably well established due to the small size of the leading cast. Bullock plays a familiar role as she transforms from bitter and awkward into a confident and powerful buccaneer, but it is actually Tatum that stands out the most. Alan is a sensitive man, with a mountain of insecurities about his intelligence, made to feel only more inferior by Loretta’s high intellect, but he is the one to bring real heart to the story. Their romance might be inevitable, but you can’t deny you are rooting for it throughout the entire film.

Radcliffe has a few funny quips in the bank and it is quite refreshing to see him play the cliché maniacal British villain, albeit with an obvious sense of self-awareness. His character is the only one that might appear unoriginal in his presentation, appearance and dialogue, but it does tend to be a necessity in these action movies. The score also comes as a big surprise, although not so much once you discover that Pinar Toprak, composer for Justice League and Captain Marvel, is behind the magic.

The movie is, of course, entirely predictable which is ultimately its downfall, and the pacing takes a slight turn after the action-packed sequences featuring Brad Pitt with a mane of hair. But directors and co-writers Adam and Aaron Nee have created a cosy, comforting feeling to the story. It’s a wild adventure, but one you happily indulge in until the very end, and there is no doubt that The Lost City will be a film you will watch again and again on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Guy Lambert

The Lost City is released nationwide on 13^th April 2022.

Watch the trailer for The Lost City here: