Vast lands filled with chaos, death, suffering and is lost reminds me of Mad Max movies. I knew what I was about to watch was going to be like a hazy dream and still I went ahead with it.
In the Lost Lands (2025) is a post apocalyptic action fantasy film that is a mixture of so many themes (gunslingers, westerns, witches, monsters, werewolves, church fanatics) and a little bit of Mad Max, Resident Evil.
This movie was directed by Paul W. S. Anderson and the screenplay co-written with Constantin Werner. Be warned, if you have seen Paul Anderson’s work before, you should know that this movie is a fast paced one. Expect nothing less.
In the Lost Lands is based on a short story of the same title written by George R. R. Martin starred Milla Jovovich, Dave Bautista, Arly Jover, Amara Okereke, Deirdre Mullins, Sebastian Stankiewicz, and Fraser James.
The storyline of this movie revolves around Gray Alys, a witch who is in search of the power of a shapeshifter which was requested by a client. In this story, we were made to understand that the earth we knew before is no more. It has become lands that bear the marks of uncivilization, dystopian era, hazy lands now known as ”the Lost Lands” which is ruled by an Overlord with his order being enforced and maintained by the Church fanatics.
However, Alys can only find what she is looking for In The Lost Land where there are no rules and its survival for the fittest. So she went to sort the best hunter Boyce. Who has a good reputation as the best hunter in the land. She succeeded in convincing him to work with her in search for a werewolf (the shapeshifter).
So they both journey into the lost lands for this werewolf. But then, will the journey be a successful hunter? Will Alys achieve her aim? Will Boyce succeed in helping her with this hunt? Who is the client who orders for such a rare thing to come by from Alys?
My Review And Rating.
I had high expectations for this movie because I saw the trailer and I was expecting a blockbuster considering that Jovovich and Bautista are the main actors. Also, the little storytelling by Bautista was a fantastic introduction to the movie. Unfortunately, I was disappointed and I was disappointed in the director because it seems to be the worst film he has worked on.
The storyline was not well written. It was so chaotic and lacked an ounce of clarity. This made the story difficult to follow, it failed to capture my interest, and it made it easy for me to forget some characters because I couldn't connect with them or care for them. The story wasn't developed properly which would have made the world building and characters’ backstories not fantastic. We were made to understand that Alys, the witch came from the Lost land, why does she need a hunter by her side to find her way around? The story was all over everywhere considering it blended quite a number of genres together all at once. The dialogues lacked depth and human emotions. It was all robotic to me.
Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista were good with their roles. They had good chemistry and I particularly enjoyed the performance of Jovovich. However, great acting can't make a movie that has a weak storyline look like or feel like a blockbuster. Let's not forget the villains that weren't written well. I actually forgot that the villains existed right after the second act of the movie.
Another thing I didn't like about this movie is the fact that it relied so much on visual effects and CGI. So much lighting effects in the action scenes making all the action scenes not authentic without soul. All the action scenes were short, captured in brief duration hence given us fast, flashy and hard engage action scenes. Especially the fight scene between the witch and hunter. I want more but there is nothing more.
Rating this movie, I will give it 6 out 10 stars. It was an entertaining movie no doubt, but then lacked everything that a movie is good with substance. It is a watchable movie but the storyline falls flat. Have you seen this movie? How was it for you?
All images above are from the movie screenshots
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