FilM
ISSUE 21 | April 2022
25
THE LOST CITY – 4 STARS DVENTURE returns to the big screen in The Lost City; a hilariously enjoyable, rom-com adventure hybrid full of snarky laughs and big-name cameos. Loretta (Sandra Bullock) is a romance novelist, whose enthusiasm for the craft has substantially dimmed since her husband passed away. Now, as she released her latest novel, she finds herself keen to hang up the pen. Her cover model, Alan (Channing Tatum)–or Dash, the character’s name he is known by for the fans who come to see him–hates this idea, because his life has blossomed through his association with the famous series. Amidst a dramatic book tour, with the two at one another’s throats, Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) kidnaps Loretta. He believes that Loretta has translated the hidden text to find an ancient treasure in The Lost City of D, one of the main settings of her latest novel. Alan believes he is the man to track her down and save her– albeit with the help of one Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt), former special ops. The Lost City requires a certain suspension of disbelief off the bat, mainly for the idea that society in any sense would immortalize a cover model in the way that this film does Dash. Despite this, once you do settle in and let those gripes go, you find yourself having a lot of fun with this piece. Principally, that’s down to the zinging banter between the two leads. Bullock, who has proven time and time again her comedic chops, once again cements herself as one of the best actors in Hollywood. She’s funny, believably actionable, and witty.
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She carries the romance well, and even looks fantastic in a pink sequin jumpsuit in the middle of the jungle. She is ably assisted by Tatum, who slots easily into one of his three typical roles (here playing the 21 Jump Street sort of persona). Together, the one-liners fly thick and fast, the jungle seems a conquerable place, and the whole film is given a certain joie de vivre.
The rest of the cast performs well also, with Radcliffe hamming it up as the villain of the piece, and Brad Pitt stealing the show with his brief appearance. From a plot perspective, this is well trodden ground; we’re not discovering any hidden gems in this screenplay. But for fans of Indiana Jones and the like, it will feel new enough, yet familiar enough, to go down very smoothly.
There’s a bit of action, a bit of drama and a bit of romance, without the hand on any one of those being played too heavily. The Lost City is, ultimately, a very well balanced, fast pace and zippy beast, and you’ll appreciate that levity throughout. Reviews by Jacob Richardson Creative Director | Film Focus www.filmfocusau.com
MORBIUS – 2 STARS UDDLED, with flashes of brilliance, but an overall sense of ‘why?’, Morbius is a film that isn’t so much bad or good, as confus-
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ing. Dr Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) is a brilliant scientist, lauded for his work creating fake blood that can substitute for blood donations. But he hasn’t been able to crack the case he is most interested in solving; that of his own debilitating illness. Both he and his best friend Milo (Matt Smith) are afflicted with a disease that shortens their lifespan and necessitates blood transfusions multiple times throughout the day. Morbius is indefatigable, however, in his search for a cure; so much so in fact that he enlists the help of his faithful colleague Dr Martine Bancroft (Adria Anjona). Their efforts to cure his disease in international waters instead result in his acquisition of a form of vampirism–one that leads him to crave blood, gives him super strength, and a host of other superpowers. As dead bodies start piling up, however, Morbius has to face the fact that his best friend might not have used the cure to the best ends, and that he may be the only one who can stop him.
Morbius is a strange beast. Much like the titular character himself, who can leap in fits and bursts of disembodied black tendril-like energy, the film lurches forward with rapidity before slamming to a halt almost at random. We’re given the occasional deep introspection, and then thrown bodily
into a CGI vampire fight that doesn’t make much sense. The start is unexpected and out of place; the end, when it comes, is sudden and rapid; the sequel set-up almost an afterthought, as if the creative team felt they had to do it, but didn’t really believe it would ever come to fruition.
Indeed, much of the film has this sort of lacklustre feeling as if it had to be made, but no one really believed in it. It’s like someone held a gun to the head of the entire creative team behind the picture, and made them create a generic CGI-heavy superhero origin story. Everyone is going through the motions, but with the atmosphere of a ISIS-hostage video. The CGI is the real killer of this piece. A lot of work has evidently gone into the facial transitions between normal human and vampire, and the switching between the two is occasionally well done, but the vampiric faces are just too much, too cartoony and destroy any sense of believability. All that being said, Matt Smith has a ball in a role that calls for him to dance around half naked and wear a tie that matches the pattern of his shirt, and Jared Leto finds quiet moments of introspection to showcase his mammoth acting chops in yet another film that doesn’t deserve him.
Reviews by Jacob Richardson Creative Director | Film Focus www.filmfocusau.com
