{"id":25081,"date":"2022-07-24T23:22:47","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T06:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=25081"},"modified":"2022-07-24T23:22:47","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T06:22:47","slug":"blu-ray-review-the-lost-city-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=25081","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray Review: THE LOST CITY (2022)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From Paramount Home Entertainment, The Lost\nCity <\/em>will debut on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD July 26th. It is also available\nto stream. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In late March when The Lost City<\/em> arrived on cinema\nscreens, there was some criticism directed at it and the concept\u2019s similarity\nto the excellent 1984 hit, Romancing the Stone<\/em>. Indeed, both films\nfollow the exploits of a romance novelist who finds herself in grave danger,\nventuring to a tropical locale on a wild adventure that ends bears some\nsimilarity to her published works. Still, it seems harsh to complain about this\nmovie having a similar concept, given that it has been almost 40 years since\nthe original title arrived at theaters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This reviewer missed the picture during its theatrical release, but recently received a Blu-ray of it for review purposes. After viewing the disc, it turns out that the film is a very pleasant surprise. It actually is a lot of fun and serves as perfect popcorn entertainment. Much of the credit should go to the onscreen chemistry of the leads and genuinely funny performances from the entire cast, who are clearly having a lot of fun. Not every element on display works perfectly, but the enthusiasm is infectious and the charming performers ultimately win one over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the unexpected death of her archeologist husband, famous romance-adventure author Dr. Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has lost her creative spark. With her newest work coming under critical fire, Sage goes through the motions at a press event for publisher Beth Hatten (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). The protagonist displays complete disdain after being forced to make a public appearance with Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum), the cover model for her book series. Things immediately go from bad to worse when billionaire Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) kidnaps Sage, demanding she help him locate an ancient treasure called the Crown of Fire mentioned in one of her novels. Caprison, who witnesses the crime and carries a torch for the writer, decides to try to rescue her and prove his worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From the outset, the humor is very exaggerated and silly,\npoking fun at romance novels and adventure films. And that\u2019s perfectly\nappropriate, given that the equally over-the-top story involves a journey to a\nhidden island with an erupting volcano. There\u2019s a lot of conflict early on as\nBullock\u2019s character exhibits a relatable scorn as her readers fawn over\nCaprison. In fact, she clashes with just about everyone she comes into contact\nwith during the disastrous promotional tour. Later jokes used during the\nstory\u2019s more outrageous moments are also maximized by the star who delivers\nplenty of amusing offhanded comments about the absurdity of the situation\n(which are sometimes misinterpreted by her rescuer), all the while trapped in a\njungle-inappropriate sequin jumpsuit designed for the book tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, the movie alters a few other traditional\nelements. Co-star Tatum has plenty of material to work with here as a\nsweet-natured but insecure model who is in over his head as a heroic man of\naction. After the fallout of one jarringly violent moment, his terrified scream\nof, \u201cI don\u2019t like it!\u201d generates a big laugh. The pair are excellent together,\nwhich is a major benefit to the film. If the onscreen chemistry didn\u2019t work,\nthe bickering between the two leads would be irritating, but their interplay is\nfunny throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Radcliffe is another inspired choice, cast against type\nas the villain and delivers a handful of great zingers. His continual\nprovocations, referring to Sage as a \u201csex-book writer\u201d and creator of \u201cvapid\nlady-fantasy books\u201d are sharply delivered and hit the mark. Randolph also lands\njabs as a publisher trying to wrangle her uncooperative author and deal with an\nextreme set of problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like most modern features, a lot of CGI effects are employed\nduring the action scenes. There is a big explosion that looks authentic and\nsome computer-generated bits involving an aircraft are fairly convincing. Alas,\na couple of the bigger effects ones (like the island volcano) do look a little\nartificial. And there are fewer gags and more sentimental outbursts during the\nclimax as the protagonists ultimately begin to develop romantic feelings for\neach other. But the story still moves at a tight clip and doesn\u2019t have a lot of\nfat on its bones, resulting in a light and frothy adventure that is engaging\nthroughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who pick up the Blu-ray, there are some enjoyable\nextras as well, including a series of deleted scenes. This includes a large\nsubplot that was excised. It\u2019s all enjoyable stuff, although one can see why\nthis material was cut, especially given that it takes place on the mainland and\nthe tone is a little different from the rest of the picture. However, this\nreviewer did prefer the deleted final scene involving an ex-Navy SEAL (in a\nsurprise appearance by another major A-list star) more than the one used in the\ncredits of the finished film. There also is a blooper reel and numerous\nfeaturettes about the cast, production design, costume design and more. If you\nenjoy the film, you will appreciate how everyone came together to make this\nmovie under very difficult circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the end, a good-natured and game cast elevates an\notherwise familiar story and results in a better picture than anticipated. The\nLost City<\/em> knows exactly what it wants to do and simply strives to make each\nscene as funny and thrilling as it can be. And for the most part, it works.\nThis disc and movie are certainly recommended to anyone at home looking for a\nlittle escapism this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Paramount Home Entertainment, The Lost City will debut on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD July 26th. It is also available to stream.  In late March when The Lost City arrived on cinema screens, there was some criticism directed at it and the concept\u2019s similarity to the excellent 1984 hit, Romancing the Stone. Indeed, both films follow the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":25089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[209,785,2060,3067,3073,4103,4660,5040,5149,12632,17310,17621,21435,21436,21441],"class_list":["post-25081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-209","tag-adventure","tag-author","tag-blu-ray","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-channing-tatum","tag-comedy","tag-da-vine-joy-randolph","tag-daniel-radcliffe","tag-lost-city","tag-romance","tag-sandra-bullock","tag-the-lost-city","tag-the-lost-city-blu-ray-review","tag-the-lost-city-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25081\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}