Land of the Lost

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Written Will Ferrell is so much better than ad-lib Will Ferrell. After the freewheeling hit-and-miss gags of Semi-Pro and Step Brothers, Ferrell returns to a more structured script form with his latest outing, a remake of the cheesy 70s TV series. The gags are hit-and-miss here too, but at least we don't have to watch Ferrell flounder as he spits out the first thing he thinks of.

Ferrell plays Dr. Rick Marshall, a "quantum palaeontologist" whose theories on time warps make him a laughing stock of the science community. The only person who believes in him is Cambridge student Holly (Friel), who convinces him to take his Tachyon device on a tryout in the desert. The machine works, but it drags Rick, Holly and the white trash, mullet-sporting fireworks salesman Will (McBride) through a rip in the space-time continuum. (The how isn't important). The trio arrive in a lost land where the past, present and future are intertwined but, because they lost their transportation device en route, the gang must find it if they are to return to our time safely. Cue madcap hazards that involve dinosaurs, giant bugs and reptile people.

It's your basic fish-out-of-water plot with Ferrell doing his sincere dope thing. The comedian can do this role in his sleep and although he isn't lazy here, he isn't anything special either. Ferrell does fall into the 'bad Ferrell' from time to time with Ron Burgundy type exclamations ("Captain Kirk's nipples!") but for the most part stays the course of 'just funny enough'. Danny McBride is slowly becoming a comic favourite after smaller turns in Tropic Thunder, Drillbit Taylor and Pineapple Express and enjoys the longest screen time he's had so far. Friel isn't given a decent line to work with and is relegated to eye candy duty; she doesn't seem to mind that English crumpet in tight vest and short shorts combo role, though.

The downside to Land of the Lost is in a world where anything can happen, there is not enough happening. This is a land where the past, present and future collide, which should have given the writers unlimited ideas but there isn't enough wild imagination on show. The movie looks cheap (cheap as chips, really) so maybe they couldn't afford amazing set pieces. Not so - Land of the Lost cost $100 million and was deliberately made look economical with dodgy special effects and scenes shot in an it's-obvious-this-is-a-studio way. Which is part of the fun too.

A big, brainless actioner with a lot of cheesy fun, Land of the Lost should satisfy in a summer lacking on laughs.